AMILOADED MEDIA HUB NEWS UPDATE
A civil society group called The Osun Masterminds (TOP) has demanded that the State Assembly provide an explanation for the expenditure details for the months of July, August, and September, which totaled eight hundred and eighty-six million, four hundred and fifty-nine thousand, eight hundred and eighty-two Naira, forty-nine kobo (886,459,882.49).
The group also demanded an explanation from House of Representatives member Taofeek Ajilesoro about claims that he had four times added the same project to the budget, which has never been finished.
Following allegations of witch hunts and victimization of staff members believed to be All Progressives Congress (APC) members, the group warned the state government about handling SUBEB’s affairs with political rascality. The group urged the Adeleke administration to act with decorum because SUBEB is an important agency.
The N100 billion infrastructure project, which was started and launched by the Adeleke administration, was not included in the 2023 budget, the group said, even as they accused the state government of abusing the legal system and going over budget.
The Osun Masterminds’ Executive Director, Prof. Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, revealed these to newsmen during a press conference in the state’s capital of Osogbo.
FULL TEXT:
Civil Society Stakeholders here present,
Gentlemen and Ladies of the Press,
Ladies and Gentlemen
Today marks the last edition of our State of the State Address for the year 2023. Throughout the year, we kept faith with our resolve to promote transparency and probity in governance by engaging stakeholders in meaningful discourse that promote the interests of our dear State and her people.
We are thankful to God for His unfailing mercies upon us as a group. Were it not for God’s enablement, the challenges our members faced in the course of the year were enough to derail us. From blackmail to senseless character assassination, we saw it all, but we remained undeterred, ensuring that at all times, we did not lose sight of the vision of our organization.
I want to thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the Press, for promptly and accurately reporting our activities. Without you, we would not have made any impact as we had set out to do when we started. We appreciate your steadfastness and we assure you that we remain your partners in progress.
This edition of State of the State Address will review happenings in the year wholly and it will take the form of critical questions that we will pose to relevant stakeholders.
Permit me to say for the umpteenth time that The Osun Masterminds is not a profit-making organization and does not have any political leaning. We are motivated, only by the desire to contribute our quota to the growth of the State, not any pecuniary benefits we could get from anything that we do.
Subsidy Removal Palliative
Recall that the Federal Government, upon removal of fuel subsidy in May, paid two billion Naira (2,000,000,000) each, to all the States of the Federation, including Osun. The payment was intended to help State’s provide palliative measures to their people.
We have continued to wonder however, why the Osun State Government chose to divert the palliative fund it received into other endeavours. The fund was strictly meant for provision of palliatives for citizens of the State. It is sad however, that without regard for the current realities facing Osun people, the Adeleke government chose to divert the money.
We consider it badly thought out, that in the place of subsidy removal palliatives that should be worth more than two billion Naira, the Osun State government decided to refurbish old Omoluabi buses, putting just nineteen in service to convey millions of Osun people? If the argument to not distribute palliatives is that it will not go round all of the people who need to receive it, how many people can nineteen (19) buses convey then?
The Osun State Government must, as a mark of respect to the people that Sen. Adeleke swore to serve, immediately deploy the two billion Naira (2,000,000,000) already received, towards social investment that will alleviate the current hardship that indigent people are facing in Osun.
Quarter 3 2023 Budget Performance Report
We keenly followed the debates that trailed the release of the Quarter 3 2023 Osun State budget performance and we are bothered that instead of government officials to show accountability and provide details of ambiguous spending, most of them went about claiming that the issues raised were coming from the opposition.
It must be stated very clearly, that no government, no matter the amount of loyalty it enjoys from the people, has the right to wave off a segment of society as ‘opposition’, knowing very well that all citizens of our dear State, opposition or not, have the right to ask questions from government. Government can never be smarter than the people it serves and cannot refuse to make clarifications when questions are asked.
One of our member organizations, Centre for Sustained Dialogue, on the 22nd day of November 2023, wrote a Freedom of Information request to the House of Assembly, demanding to know details of expenditure that amounted to Eight hundred and eighty-six million, four hundred and fifty-nine thousand, eight hundred and eighty-two Naira, forty-nine kobo (886,459,882.49) for the months of July, August and September.
Let us first state that under section 2(4) of the Freedom of Information act, Public institutions are mandated to proactively disclose information within its custody. Thus, the request made by the Centre for Sustained Dialogue to the House of Assembly, is within the rights of the organization. Responding to that request is also an obligation that the House must discharge, being a public office guided by the rule of law.
It is shocking therefore, that instead of giving a clear response to the request, the Assembly has maintained a deafening silence that reeks of arrogance and unwillingness to hold itself accountable. This is particularly disturbing because the Speaker of the Assembly is a young person who is supposed to belong to a generation that wants change.
As Centre for Sustained Dialogue (CSD) has earlier requested, we also now make an open request to the Osun State House of Assembly, under Adewale Egbedun, to disclose within 7 days, details of its 886,459,882.49 expenditure for the months of July, August and September 2023. The people of Osun State deserves to know what a 26-Member House of Assembly spent almost such a humongous figure on in just three months.
We will not pre-empt the response of the Assembly, but we have reports that the Assembly recently splashed almost Forty Million Naira each on purchasing Toyota Fortuner SUVs for Members of the House of Assembly. The House, under Adewale Egbedun, must come out to give details of that expenditure.
If it is indeed true that the House of Assembly spent so much money on purchasing vehicles for its Members, then we consider it sad that a House of Assembly populated by young people who are supposed to be our hopes for positive change in governance, is so insensitive to the plights of the people they represent.
If it is indeed true that the House of Assembly spent such a fortune on buying cars for Members, then it is disheartening that in a State where government has repeatedly claimed it is frugally managing the finances of the State, the Assembly is splashing so much of Osun people’s collective resources on such frivolity.
The House of Assembly has 7 days from today, to make details of that expenditure public, failing which we will have no choice but to approach relevant anti-corruption agencies to come take a look at the books of the Assembly.
The Borehole project
Recently, a Member of our organization, Com. Ayo Ologun, acting on the concerns earlier raised by TOM, submitted a petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), asking the anti-graft Agency to conduct a thorough probe of the borehole project, with a view to unearthing the ambiguities that surrounded the execution of the project.
We recall that his action was met with stiff resistance from several quarters, especially by the media handlers of the current administration, who went as far as attempting to assassinate the character of our Comrade. We understand such diversionary tactics and we commend them for a nice attempt at distracting the public from the clear issues in contention.
For the records, below are the issues that the Osun State Government must clarify:
What was the contract award process?
How much was spent on each borehole?
Why are some of the boreholes not functional today?
What was the contract award process for the purchase of 332 Generators to power the boreholes?
These are simple questions for government to answer, if there is nothing to hide. The request we will make now is simple – make public the details of that project (as highlighted above) through a proper press statement, within seven days from today. Clearly explain how the project was executed and how the government has monitored the implementation to ensure that the people get value for money spent.
We will await these clarifications.
Zonal Intervention Projects in Osun
In times past, we did not show so much interest in the Zonal Intervention Projects nominated by Members of the National Assembly from Osun State. However, our Research desk took time to study the nominated projects for 2023 and discovered some disturbing details.
While we understand that projects nominated for execution in the 2023 budget were nominated by Members of the 9th National Assembly, we are well aware that Members of the 10th Assembly now have full oversight powers on the projects. In some cases too, some Members of the 9th Assembly won reelection and are back in the National Assembly.
We also recently followed a reports by Tracka, on the State of Zonal Intervention Projects across the country and our findings are saddening. A lot of projects nominated by Members of the National Assembly from Osun State were either not executed or were poorly executed.
Some days ago, we also followed a report by Premium Times, wherein it was stated that a Member of the House of Representatives from Osun State, Hon. Taofeek Ajilesoro, inserted a single project in the budget four times. The project remains uncompleted till date, unfortunately.
Our findings concerning the state of Zonal Intervention Projects in Osun State make it compulsory for us to make the following requests:
Hon. Taofeek Ajilesoro must come out to explain the state of the 1.5km Irebami street in Ile-Ife, for which he questionably inserted a total of two hundred and twenty-nine million, five hundred thousand Naira only (229,500,000) under four different items in the 2022 budget. He needs to clarify why, a year after, the road remains uncompleted.
Hon. Ajilesoro must also come out to explain the similarity and/or differences in the four items he placed in the 2022 budget, namely ERGP202200969 (Construction Of Access Road At Irebami Street/Irebami Line 4, Off Fajuyi Street, Ile-Ife, Osun, State Phase 5 – N85 million) placed under the Nigerian Building And Road Research Institute (NBBRI); ERGP202201153 (Construction Of Access Road At Irebami Street/Irebami Line 4, Off Fajuyi Street, Ile-Ife, Osun, State Phase 1 – N85 million) also placed under same NBBRI; ERGP202202109 (Construction Of Access Road At Irebami Street/Irebami Line phase 3 – N25.5 million) under the same NBBRI; and ERGP202203596 (Construction Of Access Road At Irebami Street/Irebami Line phase 5 – N34 million). He also must explain why another 74million was inserted in the 2023 budget for the same road, yet the road has remained uncompleted. What has happened to the One hundred and seventy-eight million (178,000,000) that has since been released for the construction of the road?
Hon. Taofeek Ajilesoro also needs to clarify what has happened to the N4.1m allocated to the Rehabilitation of Itayemoo Foundary Museum, Ile-Ife Osun state in the 2023 FG Budget, which has remained undone till date.
Hon. Bamidele Salam must publicly clarify the progress of work on the Erosion Control project at Modupeolu Avenue, Olorunsogo Community, Oke Awere, Owode Ede, Osun State that nominated with a value of N30m in the 2023 Budget, under the Federal Ministry of Environment. The project, by the Tracka report and our findings, has remained undone and the people of Ede North/Ede South/Egbedore/Ejigbo Federal constituency deserves to know what he is doing to get the project done.
30million was allocated to the Construction of a Community Civic Center in Ara, Egbedore LGA of Ede North/Ede South/Egbedore/Ejigbo Federal Constituency, in the 2023 Budget. This project has not been executed till date and Hon. Bamidele Salam needs to clarify what has happened to this project, especially as the year in reference has almost ended.
According to Tracka, 4.3million was allocated to the Provision of Motorized Borehole at Ejigbo Town, Ejigbo LGA, Osun State in the 2023 Budget. Hon. Bamidele Salam should also clarify what has become of this project and how well he has utilized his powers of oversight to ensure execution of the project.
We visited Ilupeju road in Ofatedo Area of Egbedore Local Government and we can confirm Tracka’s claims on it. N400m was allocated to the Rehabilitation of the road in the 2023 Budget. The project was so poorly executed that one wonders how 400million could have been expended on such a job. The road, aside being extremely narrow, was also poorly asphalted; several points on the road are already peeling off. Hon. Bamidele Salam needs to clarify how he has deployed his oversight on this project to better the lot of his constituents.
We traced projects worth a combined figure of about two billion Naira (2,000,000,000) to Osun State captured under Zonal Intervention Projects for 2023. We call on all current lawmakers to immediately give an update on how far they have gone with implementation. We will from now on, monitor implementation of State and Federal projects in Osun State and give monthly updates at our press briefings.
We want to sincerely advise that this honourable enquiry should not be met with attempts to bully us. Intimidation and needless braggadocio cannot and should not replace decent conversations. We thus advise aides of the persons concerned, and the concerned persons themselves, to approach these clarifications with the same spirit of patriotism that is guiding our actions at TOM.
Atunto Osun
We keenly followed the conversations that surrounded the launch of ‘Atunto Osun’ by persons who claimed they were out on a mission to empower citizens of the State. The State government responded with accusations of partisanship, given the identity of some of the persons who spoke at the launch of the event.
Feelings of the political gladiators notwithstanding, we want to state that every effort to reposition Osun for growth and development, should be welcome by the Osun State government. We expect that government, in the interest of the people, should not add partisan coloration to every effort to move our dear State forward.
If indeed Atunto Osun is about the emancipation of the people of our dear State, we do not see any offence committed that may make government bother about the true intentions of the initiators. We are particularly at a time in our history when we feel that Osun desperately needs help from everyone who has the interest of the people at heart. We cannot for political correctness, condemn individuals who are not spending government money, because they chose to invest their finances in development of a society that belongs to all of us.
Government should also not expect that well-meaning Osun people will not make personal efforts to develop their people. This is a jointly owned society and all our hands must be on deck to help it grow.
We at The Osun Masterminds welcome all efforts to develop our dear State. The State is our common heritage and it is not the exclusive preserve of government to develop a State that belongs to all of us.
The Management of SUBEB
We have received several reports of poor handling of the affairs of the ever-critical State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). We are aware that some officers of the Board are currently being posted out, as punitive measures, on the allegations that they are supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
We want to state that the handling of an Agency as critical as SUBEB, should not be mixed with political rascality of any kind. The Agency manages the Education sector and every person saddled with the responsibility of managing it must act with absolute decorum, understanding the strategic importance of the office that they manage.
The witch-hunt and victimization of civil servants currently ongoing in SUBEB must stop. People of the State cannot become fugitives in their own State, for whatsoever reason that anybody my put forward.
Appointment of Hashim Abioye as OSSIEC Chairman
In our November State of the State Address, we condemned the appointment of Barr. Hashim Abioye as the Chairman of Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC).
We again put on record that any Local Government election conducted by an obviously partisan person, who transited from being Special Adviser (Legal) to the Governor to becoming Chairman of a supposedly neutral LG election umpire, can neither be free nor fair.
While, against all voices of reason, government has kept him in that office and he has also refused to honorably step aside, the fact shall always remain that his appointment is against reason and is a permanent dent on the integrity of the Commission.
We have our attention on OSSIEC and shall monitor every of the commission’s activities going forward.
Possibility of extra-budgetary spending and abuse of due process
Prior to the launch of the Governor’s 100billion Infrastructure plan, government had visibly commenced work on the dualization of Akoda – Oke Gada road in Ede. This was despite the fact that the project had no provision in the 2023 budget of the State.
Shortly after the launch of the Infrastructure plan, work commenced on the dualization of Oke Fia – Lameco road, with a flyover at Oke Fia. This project is also not captured in the 2023 budget.
Aside the possibility that the spending on the aforementioned projects are extra-budgetary, we are also wondering how much the Osun State Government respected due process in the award of the contracts. Were the projects, and others, properly awarded under the guiding laws of procurement in our State?
It is important to state that the execution of a government project is as important as the transparency with which it is executed. We therefore will await government clarifications in this regard.
School Feeding Programme
About a week ago, the Special Adviser to the Governor on School Feeding Programme granted an interview where she stated that the budget for daily feeding of one pupil is One hundred Naira. Unbelievable as it may sound, the figure was given by the SA herself.
Our worry is, given the current state of affairs in the country, what quality of food can a hundred Naira budget give to those young pupils who at an age when they need excellent nutrition?
The unfortunate event that happened at St. James RCM Primary School, Owoope Osogbo, may be an early warning to the State Government that it must intensify efforts to ensure the quality of not just the food, but the manpower that delivers the food. This starts from setting realistic budgets for both the food and the remuneration of vendors.
We do not pray for any public health emergency, but government has a huge role to play in ensuring that this does not become our reality.
Conclusion
The Osun Masterminds remains committed to the development of Osun State and Nigeria, and we shall continue to put government and its actors to task in this regard. We are partners in progress and we will not at any point in time, malign the person or character of anybody in government. We desire to see progress in our communities, as we are partakers of whatever becomes of our State and country.
We wish you all merry Christmas and a happy New year 2024 in advance.
Thank you
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