The Ogun State chapter of Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) on Wednesday in Abeokuta accused Governor Dapo Abiodun of maladministration and insensitivity to the plight of people of the state.
The coalition’s Chairman, Dr Femi Sholuade, who made the accusation at a news conference, said it was their responsibility as opposition political parties to inform the people about this.
“In addition to this, it is our responsibility also to call the governor to order,” he explained.
Sholuade alleged that Abiodun had in the last 24 months abandoned purposeful governance through a massive neglect of infrastructure development in the state.
He also accused the governor of continuous disregard for due diligence in the award of contracts across the state.
“Contracts were awarded to quacks and unqualified people outside Ogun to do all manners of shoddy jobs,” he stated.
The coalition chairman contended that Abiodun’s administration has successfully made 68.1 per cent of people living in Ogun poor.
“As responsible opposition political parties, it’s our duty to inform the people of Ogun that Governor Dapo Abiodun has abandoned purposeful governance in the state in its entirety.
“He has now opted to engage himself and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a massive neglect of infrastructure development which has left all our major roads in the state capital in a very deplorable state.
“The governor has also consistently demonstrated a penchant for disregard to due process and due diligence in the award of contracts.
“Civil and building construction works are now awarded without bidding processes, simply because quacks with no certificates of registration and registered office addresses were the beneficiaries,” he said.
Sholuade disclosed that the parties have now engaged the services of legal practitioners to demand that the state’s Finance and Housing ministries provide information on some housing projects across the state.
Some of the projects, according to him, include the GRA Regeneration Scheme, Idi-Aba Housing Scheme, Igbeba Housing Scheme and PMB Housing Estate.
He listed others to include the Workers Estate at Laderin, Prince Court Estates in Abeokuta, Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode and Ilaro, and Gateway Aviation Village in Iperu.
Sholuade also disclosed that the coalition had further reported all road contractors who abandoned their jobs to the EFCC and ICPC for thorough investigation.
“The CUPP under my leadership has taken steps to report to EFCC and ICPC all road contractors, who for reasons best known to them took government money but criminally abandoned such roads.
“We shall also report all the various unethical financial dealings going on under the Gov. Dapo Abiodun-led and APC-controlled administration in Ogun.
“The governor should be prepared to meet us in court,” he added.
But, in a reaction, the Ogun government described the accusations as the “ranting of political jobbers and fraudsters stunned by the governor’s rising political profile”.
Mr Kayode Akinmade, Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to the Governor, in a statement, challenged the coalition to release statistical evidence.
He said the state government wanted CUPP to produce the evidence backing its submission or “remain silent forever in the gutter of irrelevance to which it belongs”.
Akinmade said Ogun government was not surprised by the antics of “corrupt and perfidious individuals who can only thrive in mushroom parties which they use as meal tickets.
“Were it not for the need to disabuse the minds of innocent people who may be taken in by CUPP and its tales by the moonlight, it would have been entirely unnecessary to dignify the utter gibberish by them and their sponsors with a reply.
“But we owe the nation a record to curtail the spread of fake news released with intent to create chaos in Ogun.”
Akinmade stated further that the state government did not give out houses freely but followed due process in the housing scheme and the allocation process.
He, however, challenged the CUPP to publish any evidence of wrongdoing in the housing scheme across the state.
“The Ogun government did not give out houses freely. It is not a bazaar. People paid and were allocated the houses.
“Government put out advertisements regarding the housing schemes, people applied and were allocated houses accordingly.
“If CUPP has concrete evidence of wrongdoing, we challenge it to publish it,” the governor’s spokesperson added.
