Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Sunday escalated his war of words with Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, by releasing documents he claimed show that the latter received N50bn from the Federal Government under President Bola Tinubu following the January 2024 Ibadan explosion.
Fayose alleged that the funds, approved as emergency intervention after the deadly blast, were largely diverted, insisting that only N4.5bn was disbursed to victims of the incident.
The former governor made the allegation in a statement he personally signed, a copy of which was made available to PLATFORM TIMES, saying the documents were released to allow Nigerians “judge for themselves” whether the Oyo State Government had been transparent.
Makinde had earlier dismissed Fayose’s claims as false and challenged him to produce evidence to substantiate the allegation.
Responding to the challenge, Fayose said the released documents showed that the bulk of the N50bn intervention fund was allegedly channelled towards financing Makinde’s purported presidential ambition, rather than addressing the needs of victims of the Ibadan explosion.
“Meanwhile, only N4.5bn was released to victims of the Ibadan Explosion. Rather, he diverted this fund and many others to his presidential ambition, which is the reason for the crisis in the PDP and his attacks on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his government,” Fayose alleged.
The former governor further dared Makinde to seek legal redress, maintaining that the documents in his possession could withstand scrutiny in court.
He also claimed that there were additional undisclosed financial supports allegedly sent to Oyo State by the Tinubu administration, which, according to him, were never made public by the state government.
Beyond the emergency funds controversy, Fayose alleged that he had documentary evidence contradicting the Oyo State Government’s publicly declared Internally Generated Revenue figures.
“Also, there are documentary evidences on the actual Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Oyo State, as against Governor Makinde’s claim, but we will keep our gunpowder dry for now,” he said.
Fayose insisted he would not make allegations he could not substantiate, adding that more documents could be released if the need arose.
“My name is still Ayo Fayose. I don’t say what I can’t prove,” he declared.
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