The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) engaged in a war of words on Tuesday over the state’s finances.
While the APC accused Governor Ademola Adeleke of messing up the state’s finances, the PDP said the governor had been prudently managing the state’s economy and finances.
In a statement issued by APC’s spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, the party’s chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, alleged that Mr Adeleke was finding it difficult to discharge statutory functions because of finance mismanagement.
According to Mr Lawal, the governor has run the state aground and is now running from post to pillar to solve the state’s financial quagmire without luck.
Mr Lawal said Mr Adeleke could not account for th federal government’s monthly allocations, other statutory incomes and internally generated revenue in the last 10 months.
“What went wrong with Governor Adeleke, who promised during the campaigns that he was having foreign currencies in abundance?
“Could it be that Adeleke’s calendar is different from the one in the public domain, which indicates that he already exhausted 48 months of his statutory lifeline in 10 months?” he queried.
Mr Lawal said the governor lacked empathy and kept the federal government’s N2 billion subsidy palliative for two months.
“It is saddening that while some states have been complimenting the federal government’s efforts by providing their own palliatives, Adeleke chose to hoard Osun people’s palliatives for reasons known only to him and his co-travellers.
“Governor Adeleke should explain why his administration can no longer remit deductions from workers’ salaries to appropriate institutions when due,’’ he stressed.
Countering APC’s position, Sunday Bisi, PDP chairman in Osun, said the governor inherited huge debt from the preceding government of the APC.
He argued that anyone levelling allegations of financial mismanagement against the governor was likely “financially illiterate’’.
“Osun PDP government inherited from the APC government a state that was financially wrecked. Yet, Governor Adeleke manages to pay monthly salaries without default till date,” Mr Bisi stated.
According to Mr Bisi, the governor paid over N17 billion of the N56 billion inherited debts, constructed more than 50km of roads and offered free surgeries to over 50,000 people.
“All over the country, people are asking how Governor Adeleke is so smartly governing despite the financial liabilities. The record of the administration in financial prudence is astounding.
“He rejected the possibility of probing those who plunged the state into its current debt and instead chose to salvage the state’s finance and economy,” Mr Bisi said.
He warned the APC to desist from its “lies’’ so as not to compel the PDP government to revisit its policy on books of the past.
(NAN)
