Ondo Govt, PDP Clash over N2bn Governor’s Lodge

Ondo Govt, PDP Clash over N2bn Governor’s Lodge

James Sowole in Akure

The Ondo State Chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and the Ondo State Government (ONSG), clashed yesterday over the government’s decision to build a new Governor’s Lodge.

The PDP, at a news conference addressed by its State Chairman, Hon. Fatai Adams, described the proposed project as a misplaced priority in view of unpaid workers’ salaries.

But the state government in a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Donald Ojogo, described the PDD’s position as a demonstration of ignorance.

Adams challenged the Governor, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, to make public the claimed structural defects in the Governor’s Lodge that was built by his immediate predecessor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.

Akeredolu laid the foundation for the building of a befitting new Governor’s Lodge last week and clarified that the project became imperative because of the structural defect in the lodge built by Mimiko’s administration.

He argued that it would be cost effective to build a new lodge than to correct the defect in the one built by the immediate past administration.

But the PDP chairman said it was unexpected for a government that has a backlog of unpaid salaries for workers to embark on the proposed Governor’s Lodge at N2 billion.

Adams said: “This is not only ridiculous but the surest evidence that the governor has completely lost direction.

“Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Akeredolu’s predecessor, built a very befitting Governor’s Lodge in 2013, a few years before Akeredolu assumed the reins of government.

“To spend N2 billion of taxpayers’ money on another Government Lodge at this time is the height of callousness and wastefulness.

“The questions are: has the one built by Dr. Olusegun Mimiko in 2013 become so uninhabitable such that a new one is inevitable in this perilous time?

“Considering the terrible economic situation and hunger in the land, is it proper or reasonable for a government to embark on a 2-billion Naira project that will only serve very few individuals, when millions of people are languishing in despicable penury and dying without basic healthcare service delivery?”

The PDP’s chairman also berated the government over the reported resignation of over 105 medical doctors from the Ondo State’s public service sequel to the inability of the government to pay the medical personnel their salaries and hazard allowances as and when due.

He said: “Apart from the failure of government to pay, Governor Akeredolu unapologetically told the doctors in a widely televised program that the services of the doctors were not indispensable.

“This is worrisome as we all know that we are dealing with the health and lives of our people here. I’m sure you’ll all recall that Ondo State was the destination for medical tourism in the South West because of the first class service delivery found here under the PDP’s administration.

“According to the Nigerian Medical Association records, no medical house officer has been employed by the ONSG since 2019, a situation that is responsible for the poor services rendered in the hospitals.”

However, Ojogo has said that the PDP’s position in respect of the proposed project only exposed its ignorance by suggesting that Ondo State does not need a befitting Governor’s Lodge.

Ojogo said: “It is a conceded fact that an opposition party is at liberty to criticise any government including of course, the indiscreet display of ignorance on issues of governance.”

Related Articles