Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has countered the national chairman of the All Peoples Congress (APC), Professor Natawe Yilwatda’s claim that state governors are not doing enough to alleviate the country’s hardships.
The Oyo State governor told LEADERSHIP that the APC chairman’s generalisation was wrong, stating that the quality of governance in the state had impacted positively on the lives of Oyo State residents in the past six years.
Yilwatda had on Monday called on the public to hold their state governors and local government chairmen accountable for any hardship they face.
During the public presentation of a book, “Vicious Red Cycle,” the APC national chairman said Nigerians must begin to demand tangible development and people-oriented projects from their subnational leaders, especially in light of the significant increase in monthly allocations to states and councils.
He said, “No governor in Nigeria receives less than three times, up to four times, what they used to obtain before. None. Just two years ago, there was a distribution of about ₦400 billion per month—but today, the last allocation was N2.2 trillion.
“So they can do more for their people. They are now focusing on larger projects. And to me, this is a turnaround we need from our governors. I would encourage you to speak to your governors. Speak to your local government chairmen. Let them do more.”
However, reacting to Yilwatda’s claim, Makinde said it was “wrong for the party chairman to generalise.”
The governor, who spoke exclusively to LEADERSHIP through his special adviser (media), Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, challenged the APC chairman to prove that all state governors are not performing.
He said the various reforms and programmes in Oyo State had alleviated poverty in the state.
“It is wrong to generalise that state governors are not doing enough. There must be proof that not all governors are performing.
“For instance, Governor Seyi Makinde has been raising the bar of good governance in Oyo State. Through reforms and programmes, he has alleviated poverty in the state”, Olanrewaju said.
Some of the alleviation programmes in Oyo State are the Poverty Alleviation Grant (OPAG)
Conditional Cash Transfers, Debit cards, Oyo State Social Protection Policy; Investment in key sectors focusing on education, Healthcare, and small-scale businesses.
Others are the Local Empowerment and Environmental Management Programme (LEEMP), and Support for Cooperative Societies.
