Governor Makinde: Resetting Nigeria Goes Beyond Hypocrisy | By Sola Abegunde

I have seen the latest statement released by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state, who is also the presidential candidate of the Allied People’s Movement, APM.

The specific statement I am talking about here, is the one titled, ” Nigeria Needs A System Reset: Accountable Leadership, Active Citizenship”.

After reading, digesting and critically analyzing the short statement, I came to the conclusion that Governor Seyi Makinde is yet to understand the fact that he is now involved in a race where a lot of critical, objective and discerning minds will be examining every statements from him and subjecting them to serious scrutiny.

He doesn’t seem to understand that at this level, hypocrisy will not work.

Governor Seyi Makinde cleverly chose the topic of the removal of fuel subsidies and the reasons advanced by the present Administration for the removal and he attacked those reasons albeit, without clearly stating whether the removal of fuel subsidies was good or bad and what he would have done differently in Tinubu’s shoes.

After all said and done, Governor Makinde concluded his thoughts on the petroleum subsidy debate by saying and I will quote him verbatim, “…we will put forward our alternate and allow Nigerians to judge it for themselves”.

You will now ask the Governor of Oyo state, what exactly is stopping him from presenting the alternative now?

What are the encumbrances between him and the solutions he has got, which are better than what we have on ground?

Is it that, as we speak, his manifesto for the better Nigeria he spoke about are not ready?

For days now, presidential and National Assembly candidates have gotten the nod to campaign freely. So, what stopped Governor Seyi Makinde from telling us his alternatives to what we have on ground or, he thinks Nigerians are stupid enough to trust him based on some kind of assumptions?

I also see that while Governor Makinde spent a lot of energy, discussing what is and what ought to be concerning the present policy on petroleum, he neglected to talk about the gains of the present policy of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Now, talking about accountability and what some of us see as gains of the present policy of subsidy removal, what does Governor Seyi Makinde have to say about the resulting effects of subsidy removal which has translated to a tremendous increase in the inflow of monthly allocations for the States and the Local Governments?

You can not tell us that the present policy is totally bad when, as a sitting state Governor, you have never denied the fact that monthly allocations for your State and the Local Governments have tripled and in most times, quadrupled to what you used to receive before the removal of fuel subsidies.

He who comes to equity must come with clean hands.

Some of us have been asking the questions and Governor Seyi Makinde would not provide answers.

Now that he is a presidential candidate and he has started talking about fuel subsidies, will he now be brave enough to tell us the extent to which the inflow of monthly allocations for Oyo state and the 33 Local Governments has affected governance under his watch?

Let us have the facts. What were you taking before the removal of fuel subsidies?

What are you taking after and how has it affected the day to day activities of running Government?

Has the increase in the inflow of monthly allocations for Oyo state and the 33 Local Governments affected governance positively or negatively?

Give us a correct and verifiable Data and let us start the debate from there.

You can not talk about everything and forget to give us details about such important information and you expect us to accept your position.

The other time, Lere Olayinka said that some people are in the presidential race just to make the numbers.

I think we have one here in Oyo state.

Who is even talking about accountability here?

How accountable is Governor Seyi Makinde to the people of Oyo state?

Currently, I am working on another alleged fraudulent act of the Oyo state Government under Seyi Makinde.

You will recall that he changed the Oyo North Agricultural Development Project ( ONADEP) to the Oyo state Agricultural Development Project, ( OYSADEP).

I am currently working on a report concerning the contract awarded by Governor Makinde regarding the existing Buildings at ONADEP.

I won’t say more about it for now.

I also received an alleged report about how Executive memos are being handled during the State Executive meetings under Governor Seyi Makinde, how otherwise public documents are always been treated like a blood oath and I will come out with my reports on them very soon.

I know these facts will ring heavily on his mind but I’m yet to be done with them.

So, who is talking about accountability here?

A Governor under whose watch we had the Light Up Oyo Project, the controversial Bus Terminals, Agbowo Shopping Complex, the unresolved contracts for the rehabilitation of Adamasingba Stadium and the zonal mini Stadia, the controversial award of an exercise book for the sum of 2,100 Naira and many more!

I will be waiting for Governor Seyi Makinde’s alternative to what we currently have on ground with respect to petroleum subsidy.

If he forgets to return to that topic, I will constantly remind him.

The template he has been using in Oyo state will no longer work for him. Not even in Oyo state.

When the local liquor seller keeps using the same excuse to go and meet her concubine, the husband will one day catch her. ( Oko oloti too gbon. Oni, mo nlo gba agbe, ola mo nlo gba agbe).

Sola Abegunde.