No, it has been rewarding, APC chieftain replies
Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
As Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, clocks one year in office today, the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the state All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government as a colossal failure with no visible achievements to showcase to the populace.
The PDP alleged that the several billions of naira collected as allocations to the state from the federal government by the governor has been grossly mismanaged with other funds and grants squandered to please the pocket of his cronies.
However, debunking the position maintained by the opposition, an APC Chieftain, Dr. Olusegun Osinkolu, said Fayemi has been able to restore the lost glory of the state and clear the mess brought to governance by the PDP
In a statement issued yesterday by the Publicity Secretary of the party, Jackson Adebayo, PDP berated Fayemi for “dragging Ekiti State back from the development trends he met on ground when he assumed office on October 16, 2018.”
The opposition party alleged that with all the seriousness that the immediate-past government of PDP put into accelerated development of infrastructure in the state, “there is enough opportunity for Fayemi to build upon it, rather, he chooses to pull the gear of progress to reverse mode.”
The PDP spokesman also pointed out that the street lights installed by the last administration and other urban beautification projects are no more being maintained by the Fayemi government, adding that roads that have only few metres to be completed have not been touched in a whole year of Fayemi administration.
PDP said: “The only project that could have been attributed to the present government is the civic centre, which Fayemi claimed was nearly completed in his first term, and was re-awarded, yet it’s still under construction with frontage painting to deceive the Ekiti people again.
“The governor knowing well that he would have nothing to show for his one-year in office, came up with a filthy idea of erecting fence in the name of cargo airport which was condemned by his party when the last administration attempted to construct the airport.
“Apart from the improved allocations to the state from the federal government, which is estimated to be about N150 billion, it is revealed that the present government has secured foreign loans running into several millions of dollars.”
But an APC chieftain and the Director General, Buhari/Osinbajo campaign council in the 2019 presidential poll in Ekiti State, Osinkolu, said prompt payment of workers’ salaries and pensions by the present administration has reduced the level of poverty and also poularised the APC in the state
Osinkolu said Fayemi had succeeded in garnering the confidence of the Ekiti people by not reneging on his promise to make human capital development the hallmark of his administration and commitment to defray the N57 billion arrears of workers’ emoluments.
The APC chieftain added that the airport facility being proposed by the governor would promote the economy of the state when it commences operation.
Osinkolu said such facility would attract t investors to the state who could not access the state by roads, saying this will also revamp the economy apart from creating jobs for Ekiti professionals and skilled youths.
“Ekiti is predominantly a civil service state and there was no way the economy that rests heavily on salaries and pensions can survive effectively without inflicting hardship on the people.
“That was what Ekiti experienced under the immediate-past administration. But with the advent of Governor Fayemi and the culture of regular payment, poverty is gradually subsiding and hope is being redeemed,” he said.
