The rift between Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun state and his predecessor, Rauf Aregbesola, Monday, got messier as aides to the two leaders of the same party, All Progressives Congress (APC), traded words.
The state’s Commissioner for Works and Transport, Remi Omowaye and the former Commissioner for Home Affairs, Sikiru Ayedun, engaged in a public disagreement over the refund on roads paid to the state.
While an aide to Aregbesola, Ayedun, described the refusal of Oyetola’s administration to inform people of the state that it received N48billion refund on federal government roads, Omowaye said Ayedun has failed to inform people that Oyetola inherited huge debt from Aregbesola among other unfinished projects.
The duo of Ayedun and Omowaye spoke on a private radio programme tagged “Frank Talk” in Osogbo, Osun state.
Omowaye explained that the state only received N11.9billion as against N48billion claimed by the former commissioner and the roads were not completed by the past administration. But, Ayedun insisted that Oyetola should continue the project since he inherited the asset and liability of the state from Aregbesola.
Aregbesola’s aide, Ayedun, said, “if I say they have received N48billion and the state government is saying that they have not done that, the onus of prove is on them. They agreed that the money was paid in tranches but they said it is N11.9billion. Whatever they have received, let the public know. It is a moral burden that we collected money for Osun state and we refused to disclose it to them.
“This is an issue of morality. You have to tell the people of Osun state that you have received a certain amount and they will know that part of their debt is coming in. They should apologise to the people of Osun that they have not been transparent and open to them.
“We are holding a mandate for the people of Osun. It is about probity, accountability and morality.”
Meanwhile, Oyetola’s aide, Omowaye, said “the total sum of the contract is N38billion and you claimed N48billion has been paid. A project that is 35percent average completion. This administration has paid N67billion as debt repayment. Nobody is talking about that.
In the last administration, we got a Paris refund, did we advertise in the newspaper? We got a lot of refund during Aregbesola’s tenure, did we advertise in the newspaper? He lied against Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s government that they took N25billion whereas Oyinlola took just N18billion loan and he left a lot before he left. We should not because we want to justify our position and continue to lie.
