Sheriff Balogun in Abeokuta
The Ogun State Government tuesday demolished a primary healthcare centre in Ijebu-Igbo area of the state said to have been renovated by senator representing Ogun East senatorial zone, Prince Buruj Kashamu.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye and the Chairman Ijebu North Local Government, Hon. Adebayo Adekoya, was said to have witnessed the demolition.
Adekoya, who reacted to the issue, said the lawmaker violated the law by not seeking due approval from either the local government or the state government.
Meanwhile, the Media Assistant to the senator, Mr. Austin Oniyokor, while reacting to the demolition, said: “We received with rude shock the news of the demolition of a Primary Healthcare Centre in Ijebu Igbo, Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State under the direct supervision of the Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Ipaye and the local government Chairman, Adekoya.”
He said: “Information at our disposal revealed that Ipaye and Adekoya led some thugs and policemen to the facility, which is being renovated and refurbished by the senator as part of his constituency projects, and ordered them to demolish it because they were allegedly not ‘carried along.”’
He, therefore, said: “We condemn this act in its entirety because we think that the APC-led state and local government officials should have put the interest of the people beyond and above any other consideration.
“We did not encroach on the property or vandalise anything as being erroneously spread by agents of the APC-led government. We strongly believe that governance is more about the welfare of the people and not procedures and interests, be it political or otherwise.”
He added: “Even if they said they already had plans to fix the facility, why pull it down because of some flimsy excuses? One would have expected them to either encourage anyone who takes the initiative to fix it or at least compete with him by building another and better facility and not to pull down the one being built, all in the name of politics. At the end of the day, it is the people that will bear the brunt of this executive lawlessness.
“While we sympathise with the APC-led state and local governments and empathise with the people of Ijebu Igbo and its environs, we will not be deterred in our resolve to continually improve on the condition of the people.”
