The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has criticised Governor Seyi Makinde over his alleged penchant for overseas travels at the expense of the citizenry who the opposition party said are always abandoned to suffer the consequences of biting economic hardship, insecurity and rights violation.
While accusing the governor of squandering enormous resources of the state on the sponsorship of his foreign trips in company of his army of cronies, the APC recalled that Governor Makinde announced on his social media pages two days ago that he was on a tour of some European countries in company with certain members of his cabinet, political appointees, and associates to meet prospective foreign investors.
The opposition party said this trip was embarked upon a few hours after the governor returned from his more than a month ‘Sabatical’, which he enjoyed with his family members and friends in the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe.
The party’s Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, in a statement on Monday lamented what it called misplaced priority and lack of direction of the Makinde-led administration which had negative effects on the socio-economic and political life of the ‘Pacesetter’ state and its people.
“It is evident that Gov. Makinde lacks the wherewithal to personally attract foreign investors since he has nothing to show for the efforts ostensibly channeled in that direction in the last five and a half years.
“The governor had, on several occasions, promised to attract manufacturers of consumable goods, employers of labor, and economic development partners from America, Europe, Asia, and other countries in Africa (particularly Botswana) but he has nothing to show for this even after countless numbers of trips sponsored with billions of naira from the state treasury.
“But the truth of the matter is that no foreign investor would make a state like Oyo under Gov. Makinde their preferred destination since they cannot be guaranteed adequate security, friendly government policies, freedom to operate and prosper within the framework of international trade laws among others.
“The pertinent question is “Can a governor who takes pride in subjugating the freedom of another tier of government guarantee respect for the rights of private individuals and organizations when his own personal interests manifest? The answer is ‘No’.
“Sadly, whatever hold which the present PDP administration in the state can lay claim to has been neutralized by the incessant cases of kidnapping, organised crimes, political violence, rights abuse, and so on.
“Even the residences of the state governor and Agodi State Secretariat are not safe, as we have had many cases of property theft, sponsored attacks on individuals, and security breaches within and around these facilities in recent times, even though most of them were covered up.
“Recently, one of the close allies of the governor was kidnapped in Ibadan and the state government could only secure his release after the payment of several millions of naira to his abductors while many hapless citizens who had been victims of kidnappers in many parts of the state such as Ogbomoso, Oyo-Ibadan road, Oluyole LGA, Ibarapa axis were abandoned to their fate”.
The party implored Governor Makinde to immediately halt state-sponsored land-grabbing activities going in the state in the interest of the masses.
“The rate at which the present administration inflicts hardship on the citizenry by forcefully taking over their properties and places of commercial activities is becoming a threat to the peace of society, and it has to stop.
“Property owners and legitimate tenants in Bola Ige International Market are the latest victims and they deserve justice”, APC stated.
