Akala Spent N24b On Roads In 2010

Former Governor of Oyo State, Mr. Adebayo Alao-Akala has been accused of spending N24 billion on road construction and maintenance 2010.

This allegation was contained in a report delievered to Governor Abiola Ajimobi yesterday by Dr. Busari Adebisi, Chairman, 30-man transition committee in the state.

According to the former Political Science teacher at the University of Ibadan(UI), the ex-governor excuted road construction without recourse to quality and maintenance, adding that the result of that is “that most of these roads are in various stages of disrepair.”

Dr. Adebisi explained that in the course of his committee’s activities, it discovered that the previous administration awarded contracts with impunity and engaged consultants without due process, citing the controversial award of LAUTECH Teaching Hospital project.

He stated that appointments and promotions were made within the higher echelon of the civil service, without regard to vacancies or need, stressing that there was no reliable data on the actual workforce in the state.

He also noted that there had been total collapse of the healthcare delivery system in the state under the former government, “in spite of the huge resources of the State committed to the sector in the last six months”.

Adebisi remarked that in pursuit of the mandate of Ajimobi, his committee made efforts to request for information from the former government before leaving office but its efforts “were impeded by lack of cooperation”.

He said that the committee nevertheless resolved to formulate policies and make recommendations “to facilitate a seamless transition.”

The former university don said that the committee, however, had to rely on report of activities of various ministries, departments and agencies as at May, 2011, as well as information gathered at the interactive sessions with officials of these ministries, departments and agencies.

The committee also said that the former adminstration went on an “unrestrained appointment and promotion within the higher echelon of the service without regard to vacancies and/or need due to politicization of the public service.”

Dr. Adebisi concluded that the committee hoped that Governor Ajimobi would “galvanize the transformational agenda of the present government through a peep into the financial status of Oyo state” through the various suggestions contained in the committee’s report and that it “will provide the necessary compass to navigate the dark crevices of governance.”

While receiving the report, Governor Ajimobi thanked the committee which he called “professional and intellectual” for its job, stating that from the presentation of its chairman which he called “erudite”, he was sure that the report would be of high quality.

The governor said that the uncooperative attitude of the past administration was now understandable to him, because of the rot he had seen since assuming the mantle of office, maintaining that his government would look into the manner things were run in the past.

He commended the quality of the committee’s report, stating that already, two members of the committee had been appointed as Secretary to the State Government and Chief of Staff and wished that more would be appointed into office by government.

By Gbenro Adesina