PDP Fumes Over Gov Akeredolu’s Profligacy As Workers Groan

By Ayodele Oni

The People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) in Ondo State has predicted that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu would be chased out of the State very soon by starving workers.

This was containted in a statement on Monday in Akure, signed by the publicity secretary,  Kenedy Peretei.

The PDP was reacting to an alleged bankrolling, by the State Government of a concert, spearheaded by the Governor’s daughter

“The widely advertised and celebrated Sunshine Countdown Concert was anchored by Micheal Olatunde, Akeredolu’s son-in law.

“The Ondo State Ministry of Information parted with a whooping five hundred million Naira (N500,000,000.00) of taxpayers money.

“There was no Committee set up for the event, no State Executive Council approval was gotten for it.

Just hurriedly put together to patronise Teniola, Akeredolu’s daughter.

Everywhere you look in the State, what you find is Akeredolu, his wife, children and their spouses as though on rampage.

“The world of grandeur and opulence in which these people live is in direct contrast with the lives of the people of the State.

“Retired workers of the State-owned Owena Press Limited, Publishers of Hope Newspaper, had recently, in an emotional letter addressed to the Governor over the weekend, appealed for the payment of their gratuity.

“Around the same time, workers of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, took to the streets, protesting 13 months of unpaid salaries.

“The workers lamented that, while they were hungry, Akeredolu and his cronies were erecting new buildings in Owo, right before their eyes.

“In the same South West Nigeria, Oyo State Workers got thirteenth month pay in the month of December. The explanations of lean resources of the state can no longer suffice.

“Mrs Betty Akeredolu, on her part has ensured that, no Board is constituted for the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development  Commission (OSOPADEC).

“All the BEMORE and FOWOSO projects are fully funded by OSOPADEC. Short of directly signing cheques, Betty is the Alpha and Omega of OSOPADEC. The Commission has not executed a single project since the inception of the Akeredolu tenure.

“While the eighteen local Government Areas of Ondo State contributed eighteen million Naira for 3rd FOWOSO Summit last month, OSOPADEC paid Betty more than fifty million Naira for the Summit. Only a heartless person can undertake this kind of blind looting in the face of penury that is everywhere.

“The greed displayed by the First Family and their cohorts is only reminiscent of Ali Baba and the forty thieves, a folk tale from the One Thousand  and One Nights, added to the collection in the 18th Century by French Translator Antoine Galland.

“It is difficult to assume that all these are going on without Akeredolu’s permission or knowledge. Whichever way, if this continues, the people will chase him and his family out of the Government House very soon.”

Neither the Akeredolus nor the APC has reacted to these allegations which an Ondo elder described as ” frivolous and concocted meant to tarnish the image of the Governor and, especially, his wife who has worked so hard to elevate the status of the women folk in Ondo State.”