Cancel N63.5b Govt House Renovation Project, opposition tells Makinde

Opposition parties in Oyo State have asked Governor Seyi Makinde to cancel the Government House renovation project which costs N63.5billion.

Daily Trust reports that Makinde had last week earmarked ₦63,479,858,000 for the overhauling of the structures of the Government House, coming less than two years to the expiration of his two-term in office.

He also earmarked the sum of ₦131,751,530 to employ professional gardeners for the maintenance of green areas and other designated places of the Government House.

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A statement signed on Wednesday by the Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, confirmed that the funds were approved by the State Executive Council.

Oyelade quoted the Council to have described the current state and ambience of the Government House as “an embarrassment and unbefitting facility.”

The Commissioner equally said for the past six years, the Governor and his deputy have been “living in their personal houses instead of their official residences” at the Government House.

But the project has sparked controversy with the opposition parties rejecting the huge funds approved for the project.

Makinde, while defending the project, attributed the cost to the volatility of the naira against the dollar.

The governor spoke during a special plenary session of the State House of Assembly where he delivered his State of the State address, marking the assembly’s second anniversary.

Makinde emphasised that the fluctuating exchange rates heavily influenced the project’s financial framework.

At the weekend, the All Progressives Congress APC in the state told him to reverse his decision, describing the development as a height of profligacy, insensitivity and impunity which has the tendency to further wreck the economy of the state.

In a statement issued made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, the APC accused Makinde of treating the people of the state with utter disdain and disrespect “as all he could do to defend the reckless spending in the name of Government House renovation was to announce another plan to purchase two aircrafts for him to monitor criminals from the air space”.

“We watched keenly as concerned individuals and groups across the globe condemned the decision of Gov. Makinde to record another ugly stride in his penchant for financial recklessness and wasting of public funds through the payment of huge sums on white elephant projects and misplaced priorities. Interestingly, most of those who did not take us seriously when we raised the alarm on the production of 212,505 copies of exercise books for public school pupils at the rate of N2100 per copy in 2019 are now the leading voices against the same Gov. Makinde.

“To make the matter, Gov. Makinde failed to justify the decision to expend so much billions on the renovation of structures which had been built to last decades several years ago and renovated to taste by the immediate past administration of the ever-neat and classy Senator Abiola Ajimobi in 2017. All that played out in Gov. Makinde’s official address to the state lawmakers at the Oyo State House of Assembly on Thursday was a futile attempt to cover up a case of brazen corruption and impunity,” the party said.

The party also said the plan by the state to purchase aircraft for security purposes as “another conduit through which a few individuals around the corridor of power would siphon public funds.”

Also, the African Action Congress (AAC) in Oyo State has accused Governor Seyi Makinde of deliberately inflating the cost of renovating the state’s Government House in Agodi.

Reacting, in a press statement issued by Kayode Babayomi, the AAC party said Makinde’s administration is more interested in luxury than addressing the critical needs of the people.

“It is sad that, amid the numerous challenges facing the people of Oyo, Makinde chooses to prioritise this extravagant renovation of the government house. He claims that the government house is ’embarrassing and unbefitting.’ However, what is truly unbefitting of the state is the condition of our primary and secondary schools, and what is embarrassing is the deplorable standard of healthcare available to our people,” the statement said.

The AAC noted that the amount budgeted for the renovation exceeds the allocation to the health sector in the state’s 2025 budget.

It said, “Interestingly, the amount budgeted for this renovation is 5 billion naira more than the allocation for healthcare, which is meant to serve over 7 million people in Oyo State, in the 2025 budget.

“This figure is also three times the amount that was budgeted for healthcare in the previous year, which saw only a 70% budget performance. Similarly, the proposed renovation cost exceeds the entire education budget for the state in 2023.

“This clearly indicates that the current government is focusing on trivial matters while neglecting critical issues.”