Ever before now, the Ogun state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has challenged the outgoing All Progressives Congress, APC government led by Prince Dapo Abiodun on his undying attitude of conducting the business of government in secrecy.
Again, our genuine concerns and fears were confirmed on Tuesday (18th April 2023) plenary session of the Ogun State House of Assembly when the outgoing Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun sent two different letters seeking the house’s approval on the recovery of the backlog of Stamp Duties accrued to the state and payment of a five percent to a consultancy firm, Ajap Financial Services Ltd.
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Of course, as a responsible political entity, the PDP is not averse to payment of legitimate dues to anybody or a genuine firm hired for a particular service for the state. Every financial obligation must be met.
However, our immediate concern is that the outgoing governor owes it a duty to put all the details of its official dealings for scrutiny by the people, especially through the representatives of the people in the state legislature. The Governor should tell the people who the real owner(s) of Ajap Services, the consultancy firm are. Innocent members of the Ogun state public who have suffered all manners of unpaid pensions and gratuities, delayed salaries, and nonpayment of Cooperative deductions occasioned by these shoddy deals by the government deserve to know, in detail, the total number and frequency of stamp duties duly collected from Ogun state since 2015 and all hidden terms of the transaction. This is to ultimately ensure public probity and transparent accountability.
Under the PDP-led administration, the people of Ogun State were kept abreast of all activities of the government in an open, transparent engagement with members of the Ogun State House of Assembly, tagged “Mr. Governor Explain This” every quarter. This also compliments the open Town Hall Meeting, both programs were transmitted Live on all broadcast stations with Journalists and citizens in attendance to ask critical questions about the administration.
We are still surprised that in close to four years of the administration, Prince Dapo Abiodun has found it difficult to engage the people he claims to govern in an open and transparent manner. There are several doubts about the cost of doing business in Ogun State. No citizens, not civil servants, even those who work in the Ministry of Works can say categorically how much does Ogun State construct its roads under the outgoing government of Prince Dapo Abiodun. All contracts are awarded in the dead of the night, and to cronies of the government. Can Ogun State ensure the receipt of backlogs of Stamp Duty into the hands of such a non-transparent government?
In order to get to the root of the matter, especially given the fact that the outgoing APC government has become largely untrustworthy, we make bold to challenge the leadership and members of the House of Assembly to immediately institute a fact-finding panel to unearth other important hidden terms and details of Mr. Abiodun’s request.
Again, we enjoin members of the Ogun state legislature to ensure that the debate of this suspicious request by the governor must be open to the public. The state legislature has another opportunity to prove its independence and drop its garment of being a rubber stamp.
Asiwaju Akinloye Bankole
Publicity Secretary
Ogun state PDP
19th April, 2023.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
