I read the rejoinder by Governor Makinde’s Chief Press Secretary, Sulaimon Olanrewaju where he re-echoed the unforced error committed by the Chairman of Saki West in a viral video.
Sulaimon Olanrewaju was reacting to a story by the Oyo state APC.
The Chairman of Saki West had told some youths within his Local Government that he is serving the Governor of Oyo state and Sulaimon just reinforced that when he admitted that Local Government Chairmen in Oyo state pledged their loyalty to the Governor of Oyo state during an intriguing ” closed door” meeting where the 33 Local Government Chairmen were allegedly instructed to form an association different from the National Body known as ALGON.
The CPS admitted that though the Local Government Chairmen in their Communique did said they will float a new Association different from ALGON, but they never said they will be exiting ALGON.
Unfortunately, what Sulaimon failed to tell us is why he chose to combine his job as Governor Makinde’s spokespersons with that of the mouth piece of Oyo ALGON.
More importantly, he failed to tell the world why it is necessary for the Local Government Chairmen in Oyo state to float another Association while still in ALGON and how that will benefit their respective Local Governments.
Oyo ALGON, to the best of my knowledge, has a Public Relations Officer who is in a better position to tell the world and reply the Oyo APC about their real intentions.
The fact that Sulaimon quickly jumped the gun to tell us the real intentions of Oyo ALGON as if they were some babies who could not explain themselves, is further confirmation that Governor Makinde is breathing hot on the necks of the Chairmen.
The reason Governor Makinde has been engaging the Chairmen in closed doors meetings is as a result of the decision by the Body of ALGON at the National level to engage the services of Mike Ozekhome SAN to press for the compliance of the judgment of the Supreme Court which granted financial Autonomy to the 774 Local Governments.
It is obvious that Oyo Local Government Chairmen are being pressured by the Governor to denounce that position and it is evident when they demanded a maintenance of the status quo ante bellum.
They have been instructed by the Emperor to remain in the ugly past where the Governor would take the Local Governments monthly Allocations to service Loans and give Local Government Chairmen handouts.
Unfortunately, that ugly past is no longer there. It is killed. Dead and gone forever and no matter the hallucinations by anyone, the dream of a return to that moments of financial recklessness will forever remain an illusion.
No one loves to be in bondage. The Local Government Chairmen in Oyo state can never, on their own choose to attack their own freedom.
We all know the drummer behind this macabre dance.
It all started with the definitions and structures of True Federalism by Governor Makinde.
He has never hidden his opposition to an autonomous Local Government system.
He would rather want a slavish system that allows him to do whatever pleases him with the monthly Allocations for the Local Governments without anybody calling him to accounts.
He has described the judgment of the Supreme Court as a distraction and has set up Committees to review the judgment and come up with suggestions on how to implement at his whims and caprices.
That is what the National Body of ALGON wishes to stop by demanding for the implementation of the judgment of the Supreme Court and Governor Makinde doesn’t want it to happen.
By the way, what has happened to those committees set up by the Governor?
Is floating of a new Association part of the recommendations of the committee?
I’m sure they have not concluded and submitted their reports to the Governor ” behind closed doors”?
When a toddler chose to wrestle with his father, he gets blinded by the old Man’s loin clothes.
I do not know how Governor Makinde intends to fight his way through this mitigating challenges in front of him.
Sulaimon said that the Chairmen expressed their support for the democratic ideas of local Government system as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.
Happy to hear that. However, that same Constitution created the Supreme Court of Nigeria and vested It with the power of finality over litigations.
The Constitution also forbids the sacred Judgment of that Court from being subjected to beer parlour and arm chair interpretations and criticisms.
It doesn’t give powers to any Governor to call Its Judgment a distraction.
It forbids Its Judgments to be subjected to reviews by some mushroom committees.
Instead of the CPS to dissipate energy on defending the Local Government Chairmen, he will do better by addressing us on what his principal had been doing with the monthly Allocations for the Local Governments since May, 2019.
We demand financial accountability for the the 33 Local Governments under Governor Makinde and why the Local Governments have remained grounded despite huge resources received by him as monthly Allocations from Abuja.
The Governor said he is trying to protect the interests of the citizens of Oyo state by going against the judgment of the Supreme Court.
The citizens of Oyo state are at peace with the financial Autonomy as given by the Supreme Court , so, Governor Makinde should ceasefire and comply if truly, his concerns is about the people of Oyo state.
We want the Governor to come clean and tell us if he had tied the monthly Allocations for the Local Governments to a Loan agreement and if that is the case, why he needed to do that and for what purpose?
Local Government Chairmen are not elected to be errand boys of the Governor under the guise of ” loyalty” neither are they elected to serve the Governor as our friend in Saki West wrongly admitted and Sulaimon also reinforced.
Local Government Chairmen are elected and have taken oaths of allegiance to serve their people and uphold the tenets of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It is also not the duty of Olanrewaju to worry about the bottlenecks envisaged in the implementation of the judgment of the Supreme Court.
That is for the Federal Ministry of Finance to sort out and they will definitely do.
We know the judgment of the Supreme Court has occassioned nightmares for some Governors.
I hope our Dear Governor Makinde is not in the category of such Governors.
Sulaimon made heavy weather about the issues causing agitations by the citizenry and attempted to downplay the contempt with which the Governor is treating the judgment of the Supreme Court.
He claimed things have been made difficult for Nigerians by the APC Federal Government.
Unfortunately, we will not buy into that until Governor Makinde tells us by how much the monthly Allocations for the state and the Local Governments have been increased by president Tinubu.
The president has said that he has tremendously increased the monthly Allocations for the state and Local Governments so as to ameliorate the sufferings occassioned by the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol.
The Minister for Information also said that state Governors have received about N570B for the purposes of ameliorating citizens sufferings between December and now.
President Tinubu has released grains to the state Governors for distribution to the citizens.
Until Governor Makinde tells us by how much the state and Local Governments monthly Allocations has been increased and how that has impacted on the people, he will be robbed of the rights to point accusing fingers in the direction of Abuja.
I am not saying that the president is perfect. Not at all but from the efforts he has made, how did Governor Makinde play his part?
” Eni ti o maa da aso fun ni, ti orun e la ko nwo”. If you promise to make a cloth for me, I will judge the quality to expect from the one you are putting on.
Let Governor Makinde account for what he has taken and how he has made judicious use of them before he demonizes the president.
As long as he has kept failing in doing that, he will continue to be the issue.
We are not yet in campaign season. Olanrewaju and his principal should save their bullets.
We are in the season when those who have been elected must account for the resources they received on behalf of the citizens.
As a result of that, Governor Makinde should get to work. We demand accountability not rhetorics.
SOLA ABEGUNDE.
