Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticised Governor Seyi Makinde over the decision of the state government to bankroll the football match between Nigeria’s Under-20 female football team and their Rwandan counterparts with N110 million.
APC noted that the amount was at the expense of many critical responsibilities requiring the attention of the state government.
The party’s State Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, in a statement on Monday, decried such spending at the time workers of the Ladoke Akintola Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, have down tools.
Sadare lamented that the health sector in the state would soon be grounded as the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) was set to commence total industrial action in solidarity with their colleagues at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso with October 2, 2025, deadline.
“It is a height of insensitivity on the part of a government that cannot value the life of its citizens to prioritise spending on a soccer project which belongs to the federal government.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the qualifiers match between the Nigerian Under 20 girls and their Rwandan counterparts had been put in the year 2025 budget of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) through its parent body-Nigerian Sports Commission (NSC) and there are no reports that either the NFF or Federal Government asked Governor Makinde to help them out in hosting the match.
“As a matter of fact, the emergency decision of the Oyo State Government to attract the match to the low quality Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan raised a lot of questions which beg for answers.
“The decision was hurriedly backed up with a budget of N110 million which has been removed from the state treasury immediately,” Sadare said.
He added that, “One might not understand the implications of reckless spending by the current PDP administration in the state until a wider look is taken at most critical sectors which have been abandoned.”
Sadare reechoed the demands of the striking LAUTECH medical workers as procurement of modern equipment like Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Machine to cater for patients, among others.
“Worse still X-ray machines and ambulances are luxury in most of these hospitals while qualified personnel quit the service of the state government in droves on daily basis due to negligence and high-handedness on the part of the Makinde administration.
“Nigerians love football but female Under 20 qualifiers cannot be their priority at the moment. Therefore, Governor Makinde should spend a less amount on the match and use the balance to fix some of the problems in LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso,” Sadare stated.
