Oyo state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, has vowed that his administration would work hard to recover and retrieve the billions of the state’s funds looted by officials of the previous administration.
The governor, who made the vow while kick-starting the construction of the 21km Ajia-Airport-New Ife Expressway road, in Ajia town, said that his administration was ready to put measures in place to retrieve all looted funds to develop the state’s infrastructure.
The 21-kilometre Airport-Ajia-New Ife Express Road, with spur to Amuloko, was awarded to Messrs Peculiar Ultimate Concerns Ltd, at a total cost of Eight Billion, Five Hundred and Twenty Million, Nine Hundred and Nineteen Thousand, Seven Hundred and Seventy-Six Naira, Forty-One Kobo (N8,520,919,776.41).
The governor said, unlike the previous government that preoccupied itself with how to corruptly enrich itself with the state’s funds on a daily basis, his administration would drastically reduce the infrastructure deficit in the state within the shortest possible time.
He added that it’s only in doing so that the state can be positioned on the path of economic growth.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Mr Taiwo Adisa, quoted the governor as saying that the 21-kilometre road construction being launched was a product of the administration’s strategic way of reducing the state’s infrastructure deficit, which is known as the Alternative Project Funding Approach (APFA).
“Our administration means business. We will drastically reduce the infrastructure deficit in Oyo state in the shortest possible time. And this is how economies work: investors will only go where they can be assured of profits. If we do not develop basic infrastructure like roads, it will affect the cost of production which, in turn, means less profit for investors. So, we cannot be seriously discussing attracting investments into Oyo state when a majority of roads and other infrastructure are in a state of disrepair.
“In order to achieve this, we must strategize on how to increase our spending on infrastructure, because what we collect from Abuja every month from federal allocation is not even enough to pay the salaries. So, the new strategies on how to increase our spending on infrastructure is what we are doing here in Oyo state.”
Addressing the criticisms trailing the announcement of N100 billion bond issuance by the state, the governor stated: “I heard somebody criticizing us on radio concerning the N100 billion bond and was of the opinion that this administration wants to put the state in debt.
“I think our people need to start telling them that Governor Makinde is not like that. For the period of eight years they spent in office, they were only preoccupied with how to corner N1 Billion monthly into their private pockets everyday they went to the office.
“They spent 96 months in office, that means they have Oyo state’s N96 billion with them. We will retrieve every fund that belongs to Oyo people for the purpose of infrastructure development.
“So, tell them that the EFCC of Oyo state is coming for them. I want to assure you that we will retrieve the stolen money of the state from them and use the funds to build infrastructure like this.”
