Kwara: Ahmed, Ajibola bicker over funding of projects

For allegedly deceiving the electorate with bogus claims on his achievements, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State was on Monday attacked by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Senator Simon Ajibola.
On a campaign tour of Kwara South district, Ajibola said it was immoral for Ahmed to list the uncompleted Centre for Vocational Studies at Ajasse-Ipo as one of his achievements because the government cannot lay exclusive claim to its funding.
Ajibola, who is currently representing Kwara South in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, claimed to have contributed N500 million to the project like other federal lawmakers from the state.
But the state government, through Senior Special Adviser on Communication to the governor, Dr. Muideen Akorede,
said Ajibola’s claims were false and challenged him to provide evidence of his purported contributions to a project that was solely financed through bank loans that have just been repaid.
His words: “We challenge the PDP candidate, Senator Simeon Ajibola, to provide evidence of his contribution to International Vocational Centre, Ajase Ipo or any other state government funded projects.
“For the record, the International Vocational Center, Ajase Ipo and the other projects were funded by the state government through bank facilities that have now been repaid. We, therefore, invite Senator Ajibola to look elsewhere for evidence of what he has done for Kwara South in his three tenure as Senator instead of making false claims to projects funded by the Ahmed administration.
“Besides, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed won election with a pledge to complete all inherited projects and start new ones. He has not only fulfilled that pledge but has started new projects in all sectors. That the PDP candidate continues to criticize this strategy reflects a disappointing misunderstanding of the dynamics of modern governance.”