The dust raised by the political power play last Thursday morning in Osogbo, Osun State capital and Ile Ife, the state’s ancestral centre, respectively that saw the deployment of heavily armed uniformed policemen and men of the Department of State Service (DSS) to Leisure Spring Hotel, Osogbo, where a summit on the state of Osun was primarily scheduled to hold may not settle any time soon if fillers from opposition power brokers in the state are anything to go by.
In what appears similar to what Nigerians experienced during the military era in the country- when freedom of association was disregarded by the authorities, Osun Stakeholders (sons and daughters of the state) who were conveners of the summit, and their guests that include: paper presenters, royal fathers and elders of the state, academics, students and journalists were barred from entering the venue by security men who said they were carrying out the order by forces beyond them in the state.
The governor was alleged to have paid the management of the hotel an undisclosed amount for all the available rooms in order to compel its obedience, and asked the officials to refund the money earlier paid by the conveners.
One of the conveners who pleaded anonymity because he was not in the position to speak to the press, told BD SUNDAYthat when it became obvious that the government was bent on stopping the summit from holding, they decided to relocate to Ile Ife having secured the permission of the Ooni of Ife in order to avoid confrontation with the state government.
In a request letter for security cover the conveners sent to the state commissioner of police, Abubakar Marafa, dated July 16, 2015 and signed by Niyi Owolade, former deputy speaker, Osun House of Assembly, which was obtained by BD SUNDAY, detailed the calibre of Nigerians expected at the summit and the purpose and its duration at the intended venue.
But in a reply, the CP declined the request and rather disapproved the holding of the summit on the ground that it was yet to obtain police approval.
The former deputy speaker who had also served the state in various capacities including as an attorney general, later explained to BD SUNDAY in an interview that on the receipt of the commissioner’s reply, he decided to go to his office to make a case that citizens do not need police approval to hold a meeting.
“We were not going to protest on the street. It was purely an indoor event intended to discourse on how to move the state forward. The commissioner drove me out of his office. DSS had agreed to provide security for us; only for the police to come to the venue very early to scuttle the summit; it is not their fault because they were working for the governor. We decided to move the summit to Ife to avoid bloodbath because the state-sponsored thugs were already on ground,” he said.
But on arrival at Ife, the conveners and their guests also met the presence of some policemen who were not in uniform at the Aquarian Hall venue whom the management of the facility said were asking security related questions; but had to stay some parameters away from the venue when more guests started arriving and throughout the duration of the summit.
When the summit finally started at about 3pm, it was one lamentation after the other concerning the economic condition of the state and the alleged dictatorial tendencies of the state governor.
Segun Akinwusi, former head of service of the state who delivered a paper titled: “Osun State-A Sinking Ship”, accused the governor of lying to members of the State House of Assembly since his assumption of office by declaring a figure far below what came to the state from federal allocation.
According to him, in the year 2011, the governor received a total of N48.2 billion but told the state’s lawmakers that N29.9 billion was what came to the state from federal allocation; in 2012, the state got N47.8 billion but N31.6 billion was declared by the governor; in 2013, the state received N44.7 billion but N26.4 billion was declared and that information available shows that in 2014 with exception of September, the governor received N36.7 billion but also declared a far from the truth figure to the lawmakers whom he alleged aided and abated the corruption.
He said besides the regular monthly allocation from the federation account, the governor within the same period also received: N61.7 billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA); N43.6 billion from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR); N14.4 billion from the SURE-P and a total of N13.9 billion from SUBEB.
He said the gimmick of salaries of workers was also fraught with many manipulations of figures and that the total strength of the state’s workforce was below 21, 000, and argued that 1/3 of the workforce voluntarily retired in December, 2010.
“From grapevine, it is being speculated that since civil servants are no longer allowed to do their statutory duties (preparation of staff salaries), a number of fictitious names had found their way into the payroll of government, even people that have never been to Osun State. The figure of N3.6 billion as salaries is spurious and over inflated. I challenge anyone that the best the salary bill could be cannot be more than N2.2 billion,” he boasted.
Lamenting the Osun’s loan profile, he said governor Aregbesola have not been able to explain to citizens of the state the whereabouts of N17. 5 billion he borrowed for the dualisation of Osogbo to Ila-Odo, as corroborated by the Bank for Infrastructure to date.
“These items like many others were replicated in the N60 billion bonds, yet all these projects have been abandoned. It is on record that N9.7 billion would be expended on the phony urban renewal project, all to date moribund. The Ido-Osun Airport project is another nagging matter, for which billions have been expended so far, and deceitful statements made about it completion in the media,” he lamented.
Delivering a paper titled: ‘Towards a Just and Prosperous Osun State,” Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, executive chairman, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), said the state was experiencing a spell tragic of economic miss-management and waste by its present leadership and that the welfare of citizens has been reduced to nothing rather than enhancing.
He said rather than the governor to tender his resignation letter for his public declaration that the financial crisis facing the state was beyond his capacity, he sent groomed thugs otherwise known in the state as “State Boys” to disrupt a peaceful protest against the government.
He said regrettably, the governor has not been able to explain to citizens of the state how the meager resources which include: SURE-P, SUBEB, ecological funds, ECA, IGR, state of local governments funds from federation account, constituencies allowances of federal lawmakers, pension contributory fund, unremitted cooperative loan deduction of workers, commercial banks debt and the bailout Liquid National Natural Gas (BLNNG) accrued to the state for almost five years.
“Democracy and political stability are threatened if we allow the ongoing impunity in the governance of the state unchecked. The state has not been able to commission a capital project since Aregbesola took the mantle of leadership in spite of the huge money the governor has received. The governor has dragged the state into a debt regime of close to the tune of N600 billion,” he said.
Remi Aworemi, senior lecturer, Department of Economics, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State,who was a guest speaker at the summit, later told BD SUNDAY in an interview that he was surprised in spite of the obvious monumental corruption in states, anti corruption agencies in the country had yet to call for questioning governors who ruined their respective states’ economy and owe workers backlog of salaries.
“Osun is in real trouble. The treasure keeper of Osun has become the looter. The supposed human right defender becomes the offender and oppressor; the builder becomes the destroyer; our state assets commercialised and privatized to be bought by the few privileged ones with the loot from the masses’ purse. Salaries were not paid and even when the FG bailed the hopeless leaders out of indebtedness,” he said in a poetic manner.
According to him, education which is known to be the strength of the western part of the country has been relegated to nothing by what he termed ‘maitasines leader’ in the state who opined that the VCs should source for money to run university internally.
“Aregbesola’s actions contradict his preaching and he has commercialised minaret. Materiality has over shadowed his sensibility. Corruption has become his culture. Nepotism and authoritarism have become his style of living. I charge sons and daughters of Osun State to stand and fight for our fundamental human rights,” he said.
The conveners in a communiqué issued at the end of the summit, and signed by Yinka Odumakin, national publicity secretary, Afenifere, a pan Yoruba social-cultural group, said a total N317 billion accrued to the state’s coffer under the current administration from the federation and IGR alone not the N108 billion that governors declared to the lawmakers; leaving N209 billion uncounted for.
“We hereby call on the Economic and Financial Crime Commsion (EFCC) and anti grafts in the country to investigate the accounts of the Osun State government in the last five years. This is too glaring corrupt practices for them to overlook”, the communiqué reads in part.
Efforts to reach Semiu Okanlawon, media officer to governor Rauf Aregbesola in order to have government’s accounts on the matter did not yield any result as he neither take or return several calls to his cell phone. As at the time of filling in this report he had yet to reply text message bordering on the subject.
The state CP also appears unwilling to speak on the matter. He also did not answer several calls to his cell phone and had yet to reply text message as at press time asking him to clarify the command’s role in the roar.
But Emmanuel Ojukwu, force spokesperson in Abuja, told BD SUNDAY when he was contacted on phone that the Osun CP should be able to speak for himself why he disrupted a lawful gathering in violation of the constitution and added that “it is noted”.
NATHANIEL AKHIGBE
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