Osun APC, PDP disagree over call for Adeleke’s probe

The Osun State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Tuesday invited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to probe the administration of the state governor, Ademola Adeleke.

Addressing journalists in Osogbo, Osun APC chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, said the state was already ungovernable for Adeleke due to maladministration which has made many residents to be displeased with him.

Lawal expressed readiness to assist anti-graft agencies in probing the Adeleke administration.

He also accused the governor of flagrant disobedience of extant laws and gross violation of the 2015 Public Procurement Law of the state in the award of the contracts to entities with no background in road construction, asking the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr Akinyode Oyewusi, whose company was said to have been awarded the road construction contract to resign his membership of the parliament and turn himself into the security agents.

He further said, “It is bizarre that two companies founded by the incumbent Deputy Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Mr Akinyode Abidemi Oyewusi, were recently awarded road construction contracts by the Government of Osun State.

“The Osun State Deputy Speaker is the founder of Raregeode Company Limited and Acumen Forte Limited, two companies awarded road projects by Governor Adeleke to the tune of N9 billion and was a shareholder in the two companies as at the time the contracts were awarded; while members of his family were also the person(s) with significant Interest in the two companies, which is contrary to the public procurement law of Osun State.

“By the PPA Law of 2015, it amounts to an unholy conflict of interest that a leader of the state House of Assembly will, through the back door, use two companies founded by him and where he is still a shareholder and members of his family are still holding principal directing positions, to bid for public contracts. For the fact that this seemingly unpatriotic action of Mr Oyewusi grossly violates provisions of the state’s procurement law, he should resign his membership of the state House of Assembly outright and hand himself over to the anti-graft agency for prosecution.

“Again, it is strange that the Ademola Adeleke Government awarded public contracts to companies with no history of road construction. There is no verifiable evidence that Raregeode Company Limited, Acumen Forte Limited and the three companies engaged for the road construction, namely: Ascorj Integrated Nigeria Ltd, Great Enyork Technology Limited and Enginec Engineering Limited, have the capacity and experience for such whooping contracts. The contracts were not only gifted to mushroom companies, they were gifted at insane costs. Even in the Niger Delta states where the topology is unfriendly, contracts are not awarded at N2.5bn per kilometre as Governor Adeleke has done in the instance of Osun.

“We want to use this medium to call on the anti-graft agencies, especially the ICPC and EFCC, to immediately move in their men to Osun State to halt the reckless mismanagement of public funds which is now endemic under the government of Senator Ademola Adeleke.”

But while responding to the allegations, Osun PDP chairman, Mr Sunday Bisi, said the state government had nothing to hide, and urged the opposition party to bring its anti-graft agencies to probe Adeleke.

Bisi, who spoke at the party” ‘s state secretariat in Osogbo, called on Adeleke to launch a probe into the finances of the state under the immediate past administration of Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, saying the PDP government inherited a state struggling with over N500 billion debt without tangible projects to justify such debt.

He said, “We first want to vehemently deny allegations that the state government violated the state procurement law. It is an unfounded allegation. We also denied a defamatory allegation by Soko Lawal that the Adeleke family is looting the state treasury through contract awards. The family is blessed and is only focused on giving back to the society.

“We affirm that the state government is not only complying with extant laws but prudently deploying available resources to develop the state infrastructure. Mr Governor is a leader of due process, rule of law and fear of God.

“Before we answer Osun APC, the lying machine, point by point, we want to remind the public that Osun APC left the state in comatose, with massive debt without anything to show for it.

“We met a legacy of unpaid pensions and half salaries as well as a deep infrastructure deficit. As I said in my statement on Monday, we did not probe the multi-billion naira fraud and looting by the former governor because we are interested in rescuing our dear state.

“We are constrained to call on Governor Ademola Adeleke to launch a full probe of the Oyetola government. It is time to expose to the public the legacy of fraudulent administration left behind by former Governor Oyetola. It is public knowledge that the Adeleke family are enterprising, with several known businesses in Nigeria and abroad. The Osun APC should stop seeing the Adeleke family in the image of the former governor whose members of the family have no known source of engagement outside government, cornering almost everything to themselves including printing jobs at the secretariat while it was at the helm.

“That the Osun APC failed to quote the relevant section of the PPA 2015 easily gives away the lies in its claim. The award of the contracts followed the lettered provisions of the PPA 2015, which we believe the Osun APC is ignorant of or just chooses to be mischievous by setting out a wrong narrative in the public. There is no violation of the procurement law of Osun state or any other laws.

“It is on record that at the time when Raregeode Company Limited and Acumen Forte Limited won the bid and were awarded contracts for the various projects, the Deputy Speaker, Akinyode Oyewusi has ceased to have any role in the two companies.

“The public is advised to note the March 20, 2023, resignation letter of Oyewusi, relinquishing control over the two companies in line with the provisions of the law. As long as he has resigned his interest in the company, there is no encumbrance or illegality on the side of the Deputy Speaker.”