Publish how you raised funds for Ondo guber election if you’re transparent, Hakeem Alao challenges Gov. Makinde

By Lai Mahmood

Governor Seyi Makinde has been asked to publish how he raised funds and how much expended for the just concluded Ondo State governorship election.

This was contained in a release by Omotayo Iyanda, the media spokesman to Engr Oyedele Hakeem Alao and made available to journalists in Ibadan, Oyo State capital on Sunday.

The release read: “As funding a governorship election is very expensive in Nigeria and as the Chairman of the PDP Ondo Gubernatorial Election 2020, Governor Seyi Makinde is hereby called upon as an advocate of public accountability and transparency to come public and tell the people of Oyo State how he helped Mr Eyitayo Jegede and his party, PDP, raise funds and how much expended on the just concluded governorship election in Ondo State, where Governor Makinde’s party, PDP, has lost.

“We have it on record how much our governor has expended on the governorship election in his desperation to win it at all cost to establish himself as a political colossus in South West.”

Engr Hakeem Alao, the governorship candidate of Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the 2019 elections, also claimed that the governor closed down the Oyo State government in his bid to win Ondo State for People’s Democratic Party (PDP), saying “In a desperado style, Governor Makinde did not only move the Oyo State’s hard-earned income to Ondo but also the entire Oyo Government machinery.

“Let the governor be reminded that without the coalition of political parties, he could not have singlehandedly won the last election. The loss of his party at both Kogi and Ondo should tell him now that politically he is not what he thinks he is. He should excuse himself from illusion.

“A visit to the seat of government at Agodi on Friday prior to the Ondo election as the place was shown deserted and the arrest of Mr Babatunde Tijani (Double T), a very close aide of Engr Seyi Makinde and Hon Babatunde Oduyoye, for an alleged electoral offence in the just concluded Ondo governorship election were proofs that the seat of Oyo State Government was deserted for a desperate move to win the Ondo governorship election.”

In the release, Engr Alao chided PDP while condemning the action of the leaders of the party during one of their rallies, stating that “A political rascality was also displayed by PDP in this digital age by removing a cap from the head of a former Governor Ayodele Peter Fayose under the leadership of Engr Seyi Makinde, just for power grabbing sake.

“It is a pity that Mr Eyitayo Jegede, a SAN, and who wanted to rule Ondo State, could watch such a scene with a relish. What a barbaric and unrefined disposition! The party PDP is synonymous to indecency, violence and brigandage. That is another pointer that the party, PDP, lacks men of honour to be entrusted with public trust.”

Engr Hakeem Alao stated that he was only interested in standing against “careless and wasteful spending of the Oyo State money and anything that can put the people of the state in a precarious situation, and would, therefore, like Governor Seyi Makinde to publish how much he pumped from the Oyo State coffers into the Ondo guber election to exert his dreamt and anticipated leadership in the South West PDP,” which Hakeem Alao described as delirious.

“We are demanding this action from our governor for the purpose of accountability in governance to protect the patrimony of the people of Oyo State, more so we know our governor is always a stupendous lavish spender when it comes to issues of seizing powers at all cost.

“Although Engr Makinde was not the chairman for the PDP Kogi Governorship Election Campaign Committee, an election that was also lost by PDP in November 2019, we are aware of all our governor’s antics, financial and otherwise, at winning the Kogi guber election. So, we do not wish to overlook the funding of the Ondo governorship election from the Oyo State treasury when all of us are not PDP members.

Engr Hakeem Alao cautioned Governor Makinde against populist actions which held nothing beneficial for the Oyo State residents, reminding him that, “Few months back when some Nigerians were stranded in Lebanon, out of which Oyo State indigenes were just five, Governor Seyi Makinde, in his usual “philanthropic and populist” posture, maybe for his future higher political ambition, singlehandedly paid the flight tickets of all the stranded citizens, including those from Lagos State.

“How on earth can a governor volunteer to bear such a financial burden when the state’s revenue base is still nothing to write home about? How on earth can the river be competing with the ocean?

“Second, about two weeks ago, we raised an alarm over the illegal sale of water pipes in Oyo State. Our governor has yet to set up a strong investigation panel into the allegation.

“The only action taken so far on the allegation was a jamboree press briefing where some media outfits were invited and stage-managed to do some paid damage control, after a counter press release was issued from the Governor’s Office after we broke the alleged illegal deal in Water Corporation of Oyo State.

“How on earth must a rejoinder to the allegation emanate from the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde? What is the Public Relations Unit of the corporation doing?

“A reaction to the allegation, written by the Office of the Governor was read on IBR, a radio station close to the residence of the corporation’s chairman. We can only hope there is no case of complicity from the Governor’s Office in this matter of Water Corporation of Oyo State illegal deal.

“What about the killings going on in Ogbomoso land during and after the #EndSARS protest? All these were/are going on at home and our governor was/is busy in Ondo just for his political gains.

Engr Hakeem Alao, however, submitted that “It is against this backdrop we are calling on Engr Seyi Makinde to take governance more seriously and be genuinely responsible, transparent and accountable to the people of Oyo State.”