….”We are not a Thieving Government”
The Osun State Government has dismissed as outright falsehood, the insinuation by a faceless group that it plans to divert the SURE-P refund recently released to local governments. We note that jobless officials of the past administration were bitter that their plot to squander the fund was exposed and stopped by Governor Adeleke’s team even as an opposition party.
The insinuation was a calculated attempt by agents of the past administration to pollute the minds of the Osun people with lies after it was stopped from pilfering the fund as it did with many other accruals to the State.
It would be recalled that it took the swift action of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s team to raise alert of the perfected plot to swindle Osun people of the said fund in the latter days of the Gboyega Oyetola administration through pony and non-existing projects. The Governor’s team issued several alerts which stopped the previous administration from sharing the fund.
Our interest at that time, which has not changed, was that the fund should be used for the purpose it was meant for. We find it rather amusing that the frustrated men of yesterday caught openly in the act of treasury pillaging, think everyone is like them.
For the avoidance of doubt, the present administration is a regime of due process, transparency, and accountability. This government is averse to the looting of government properties, illegal gifting of government cars to cronies, and ransacking of Osun Governor’s lodge in Abuja as different from globally available evidence of the looting of Governor’s and Deputy Governor’s lodges at Osogbo. This government is not a Trumpist copycat that coveted public assets and still think nothing illegal and immoral has happened.
We find it shameful that a shameless administration with a series of documented tampering with government’s assets and treasury will attempt to mount a false moral high ground at a time the state is still reeling under the mess it created. The public, the best judge of public service, is in custody of over 20 public alerts and statements from the Governor’s team while in the opposition which exposed corruption, thwarted illegal fund movement, and warned against unlawful recruitment.
The court of public opinion has already released its verdict and the jury is out – the Oyetola administration engaged in widespread corrupt practices in violation of procurement process, bureaucracy management, local government administration, and public appointments. No amount of fake news can reverse that verdict of history.
We assure the public that every fund under its management, and not just the SURE-P fund is safe. Therefore, the general public should discountenance the fake news in circulation as the Adeleke administration has not touched a kobo from it, nor plan to use it outside the purpose it was meant for.
At the appropriate time, we shall disclose and outline projects that the fund will be used for and we can assure that it will not be the deceit that characterized the past administration.