A former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has escalated a public dispute with Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde over federal intervention funds approved after the January 2024 explosion in Ibadan, alleging that the fund was largely diverted to other purposes.
On Friday, Mr Fayose appeared on TVC’s political programme, Journalists’ Hangout, where he accused Governor Makinde of failing to disclose the N50 billion support he received from President Bola Tinubu’s administration following the Ibadan explosion.
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He said Governor Makinde only mentioned the part where he declined the president’s request to help organise the APC in Oyo State but did not tell Nigerians about the help and support the president gave to him and to the people of his state.
“But you did not tell Nigerians you got, at the prerogative, at the mercy of Mr President, you got 50 billion Naira in support of the explosion in Ibadan. He never said that to Nigeria. So, the president can say the explosion is not worth more than 10 billion,” Mr Fayose said.
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Recall that Mr Makinde had granted an interview where he revealed that Nyesom Wike offered to “hold” down the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to strengthen President Bola Tinubu’s second term ambition.
Governor Makinde also said the president personally asked him to help organise the APC party in the state but he refused.
Responding to Mr Fayose, the Special Adviser on Media to Governor Makinde, Sulaimon Olarenwaju, challenged the former Ekiti State governor to prove his allegations.
“He who makes an allegation must provide evidence. Let him produce proof of what he is claiming. It is important to note that Fayose lacks credibility. Even members of his family have publicly disowned him.
“What credibility does such a person have? People like that speak carelessly, and ordinarily, they should not be taken seriously. But since he has made a claim, let him substantiate it,” he said.
Acclaimed ‘evidence’
In a statement signed by Mr Fayose and posted on the X page of Lere Olayinka, a media aide to Nyesom Wike, the former governor said he decided to make the documents public in the interest of transparency, arguing that the disclosure was necessary after the Oyo governor spoke about private discussions with President Bola Tinubu on the matter.
“Two days ago, I said on national television that Oyo State under Governor Seyi Makinde got a sum of N50bn from the Federal Government as intervention on the January 2024 explosion in Ibadan.
“Yesterday, the governor responded by asking me to provide evidence that he received such money, and here is the evidence he asked for.
“Meanwhile, only N4.5bn was released to victims of the Ibadan Explosion. Rather, he diverted this fund and many others to his Presidential ambition, which is the reason for the crisis in the PDP and his attacks on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his government,” Mr Fayose said.
Mr Fayose further alleged that the unaccounted funds were channelled into political activities, including Governor Makinde’s reported presidential ambition.
He accused the Oyo governor of being less than forthright with residents of the state about the scale of federal support received after the explosion.
He also claimed that Oyo State had benefited from other intervention funds from the Tinubu administration which, he said, were not disclosed to the public. In addition, Mr Fayose alleged discrepancies between the state’s actual internally generated revenue and figures publicly presented by the Makinde administration, saying he possessed documents to substantiate the claim.
“ I challenge Governor Seyi Makinde to sue me on this. Let me also tell him that there are proofs of other intervention funds received from Tinubu’s administration by the Oyo State Government, which the governor refused to disclose to the people.
“Also, there are documentary evidences on the actual Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Oyo State, as against Governor Makinde’s claim, but we will keep our gunpowder dry for now,” he said.
As of press time, the Oyo State Government had not issued a fresh response to Mr Fayose’s latest claims
The document
A close look at the “evidence” indicates that the document is a memo from the office of the Accountant General of the Federation to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy addressing a request from the Oyo State government, rather than a payment receipt.
The document dated 29 August 2024, is titled “Requests for Special Intervention Funds”.
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It outlined requests from several state governments seeking special intervention funding amounting to N915.5 billion. It explained that the requests could not be fully met due to the low cash balance in the special accounts designated for such interventions, even though some of the requests were submitted earlier in the year.
The letter states that N450.7 billion had already been disbursed, leaving an outstanding balance of N464.7 billion. An attached schedule lists the beneficiary states, the purpose of each request, and the amounts sought.
One entry shows Oyo State’s request for N50 billion for reconstruction works following the Bodija explosion.
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