Ondo, Idoma Strengthen Cultural Ties At Ekimogun Day Celebration

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State have engaged in a war of words over the N50 billion relief fund allegedly received from President Bola Tinubu following the January 2024 explosion that devastated parts of the Bodija Government Reserved Area in Ibadan.

The APC publicity secretary in Oyo State, Olawale Sadare, in a statement yesterday, called on Governor Seyi Makinde to explain how he allegedly utilised the funds or resigned from office.

The party criticised Makinde, accusing him of failing to account for the alleged fund while also faulting his recent remarks against President Tinubu and the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu.

The opposition party’s demand followed claims by former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, who said during a live interview on a Lagos-based private television station on Friday that Makinde received the funds on behalf of the victims when he visited President Tinubu to brief him on the incident.

Fayose alleged that the governor neither publicly acknowledged the receipt of the money nor deployed it to provide relief for victims who lost their lives and property in the explosion.

Makinde had, during a recent media chat, claimed that he declined a request by the President to help organise the APC in Oyo State and was also quoted as saying that the Minister of Power lacked the capacity to deliver.

Regarding the Bodija explosion, the APC spokesman stated that Makinde had claimed to have spent N4.5 billion on victims, but without providing detailed records to show beneficiaries or disbursements.

“Now that his close friend and fellow party man has disclosed that a whopping N50 billion was actually paid into the coffers of the Oyo state government as a Relief Fund by the federal government, Gov. Makinde should realise that a flippant reaction by his media aide cannot be enough, as the whole world needs to know what he did with the money.”

In a swift reaction, a group within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, the Oyo PDP-Visionaries, has berated former Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose.

The group’s state Coordinator, Qudus Olayide, in a statement on Sunday, described the former Ekiti State governor as a disgrace to public service for failing to understand the difference between a request and an approval.

According to the group, the Oyo State government’s request of N50 billion is for the reconstruction of the Dejo Oyelese/Adeyi Avenue area following an explosion.

It berated Fayose for trying to justify his false claim that Makinde received N50 billion from the federal government, citing a letter from the Ministry of Finance that showed requests from states.

“While it was shameful that Fayose told a lie to the public to discredit Makinde, it was quite demeaning and disturbing that he tried to use bold face to make the lie stand by publishing a false record”, it said.

The group challenged Fayose to publish the letter showing the actual approval, as it is not all Nigerians who are dropouts and half-literate like him, who cannot distinguish between a letter of request and an actual approval.