By Sola Abegunde
I received a shocking information from an insider source on Saturday night. It was alleged that the First Lady of Oyo state, Mrs Omini Makinde had taken the wives of the 33 Local Government Chairmen in Oyo state on a tourism to Dubai.
I was informed that this is not the first time the woman would be embarking on such a wasteful trip, in company of the wives of the Chairmen of the 33 Local Government.
According to my source, she took them on such a trip in 2024.
You will now wonder, how is such a jamboree expected to translate to good governance at the state and local government levels?
Who funded the trip? The state or the local governments?
I can bet it. The funds expended on such wasteful trips must have been deducted from the resources meant for the development of the 33 Local Governments.
How much is being wasted on this meaningless jamboree?
What does Governments at the state and local level stand to benefit from the jamboree?
I am happy that this is coming at this very critical time and I want Governor Seyi Makinde to personally respond to this issue.
The other time, he was saying that the increased inflow of monthly allocations to the states and local governments have been overtaken by inflation and some of us are of the view that recklessness in fiscal policies of the state Government is doing more harm than inflation.
We have been complaining about the poor road network at the local government level.
We have been complaining about the poor state of our primary and secondary education. We have been talking about the poor health sector. Presently, Resident Doctors at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH are on strike.
Unfortunately, the resources meant for the development of the grassroots are being wasted to sponsor the Governor’s wife and wives of the 33 Local Government Chairmen on meaningless trips abroad.
How is a state expected to develop under this kind of fiscal recklessness?
How is a state expected to develop when a state Governor takes leisure in depriving the Local Governments the resources meant for their developments?
We have been talking about the Internally Generated Revenues, IGR from garages and parks in Oyo state.
Last week, I made a revelation about how Seye Famojuro and one Lekan who is a domestic Aide of the Governor have been usurping the responsibilities of the Local Governments by allegedly printing tickets for the Park Management System, PMS.
According to my source, the duo have been collecting over 60 million Naira illegally, on a monthly basis, from the sales of these tickets, whereas, the Local Governments collect a ridiculous sums of 120 thousand Naira each, on a monthly basis.
How can the state develop under this oppressive system?
Interestingly, Governor Seyi Makinde is a presidential candidate who has been going around the country, promising to reset Nigeria.
How can anyone reset the country on the basis of what is being practiced in Oyo state in the past seven years plus?
The Governor must address us and provide answers as to the importance of the trip by his wife and wives of the 33 Local Government Chairmen. He must tell us how much of public funds is being spent and where the funds were drawn from.
I do not know under which sub head the funds drawn to sponsor the wives of Local Government Chairmen on a trip abroad could be legally drawn in the scheme of things.
Governor Makinde must personally provide an explanation about this alleged tourism trip to Dubai by his wife and the wives of the 33 Local Government Chairmen.
How does the trip benefit us as a state?
Sola Abegunde.
