In this piece, I will be fact checking claims by Chief Adebayo Adelabu, during an interview on Fresh FM 105.9 Ibadan on Saturday, June 26, 2021. Adelabu was the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the 2019 Oyo State governorship election.
Chief Adelabu made claims on the four pillars of the Seyi Makinde administration’s Road Map to Accelerated Development in Oyo State 2019-2023: security, economy, healthcare, and education. I have outlined the claims and presented the facts and verdicts.
Claim 1:
Oyo State was insulated from the insecurity in Nigeria for the 8 years of Senator Abiola Ajimobi’s tenure.
Fact:
The state of security during Ajimobi’s tenure is well documented. A few instances will suffice. In 2016, clashes between one million boys and indomie boys wreaked havoc in areas such as Beere, Born Photo, Ilupeju, Agbokojo,Mapo, Idi-Aro and Akala Way. In 2017, farmers-herders clashes in Oke-Ogun left 10 people injured. In fact, by February 2018, the Oyo State House of Assembly called on Ajimobi to equip and empower vigilante groups across the state, especially in rural areas, as a way of tackling threats posed by herdsmen to farmers.
Verdict: This claim is false
Claim 2:
Ajimobi’s security template included lighting up Oyo State, that is, the installation of streetlights which Governor Seyi Makinde was only implementing 2 years later.
Fact
The ‘Light up Ibadan’ project was flagged off by Makinde as part of his 100 days in office activities in September 2019. Having completed phase 1 of the light up project, Makinde flagged off phase 2 of the ‘Light up Oyo’ project to cover over 200km of roads across the state a year later in September 2020. Therefore, Adelabu not only lied about Light Up Oyo being Ajimobi’s idea, he also lied about when the project was implemented.
Verdict: This claim is false
Claim 3:
Feigned unawareness about the status of the CCTV cameras installed by Ajimobi and the emergency contact number obtained by the Ajimobi administration.
Fact
Not only were the CCTV cameras installed by Ajimobi made functional, Makinde’s administration has installed more cameras in the state and connected them to the Security Control Room and City Watch Facilities at Onireke, Jericho, Ibadan.
Furthermore, the emergency contact number obtained by the Ajimobi administration was operationalised by Makinde’s administration in September, 2019, barely 3 months after he assumed office and is still functional.
Verdict: Chief Adelabu would be completely cut off from the realities of the state he claims he loves so much if in reality he didn’t know about these developments.
Claim 4:
The police and other security agencies in Oyo State don’t like Makinde which is why they are not carrying out their duties properly.
Fact:
During the End SARS protests in October 2020, Makinde had directed the police to take a back seat in order to deescalate the situation and prevent further loss of lives since the protests were against police brutality. The police seem to have interpreted this as Makinde taking sides with the protesters against them and this led to non-policing of the state for months.
In any case, Adelabu inadvertently admits that the security agencies are not doing their jobs as they ought to.
Verdict: Chief Adelabu will side with oppressors against the people of Oyo State, if given the opportunity.
Claim 5:
In the past 2 years, Oyo State’s internally generated revenue (IGR) had grown by only N300 million, from N2 billion which Makinde’s administration inherited.
Fact:
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Oyo State’s IGR for the 2020 fiscal year grew by 42.23% from N26.7 billion in 2019 to N38 billion. That is an increase of N11.3 billion between 2019 and 2020. In fact, Oyo State’s IGR has grown by about N1 billion per month in a pandemic year, not the N300 million touted by Adelabu.
Verdict: This claim is false
Claim 6:
Makinde promised during the campaigns that Oyo State would not need to rely on FAAC share after six months in office.
Fact:
There is no evidence that Makinde made this promise. What Makinde stated during the campaigns was that he would work towards growing the IGR of Oyo State to cover recurrent expenditure to reduce the dependency of the state on FAAC allocations to meet recurrent expenditure.
Verdict: This claim is false
Claim 7:
The quality of work done on the 65km Moniya-Iseyin Road project is not good enough as the road is too narrow.
Fact: The Moniya-Iseyin Road is a single carriage road. The contract awarded by Makinde’s administration was for reconstruction of the road, not dualization of the road. Therefore, Adelabu’s criticism is baseless. Note that Adelabu’s mentor, Ajimobi, failed to fix this road in 8 years.
Verdict: This claim is baseless.
Claim 8:
Roads completed by Ajimobi’s administration in his 8 years in office were ‘high impact and good quality’ roads.
Fact:
Adelabu failed to mention one major road built by Ajimobi in his 8 years in office that is ‘high impact and good quality.’
Verdict: Unverifiable claim
Claim 9:
Road projects (Agodi Gate-Old Ife Road and Akobo Road) left behind by Ajimobi’s administration needed little work to complete but are still ongoing under Makinde’s administration.
Fact:
Ajimobi spent 8 years in office but could not complete the aforementioned road projects. He awarded these 2 road projects in 2016 and 2017 and they ought to have been completed by 2018 and January 2019 respectively but were in fact, not even half way done by the time Makinde assumed office in May 2019. It is worthy of note that Agodi Gate-Old Ife Road is still being handled by Ajimobi’s contractors, while Akobo Road was revoked for non-performance and reawarded.
Verdict: This claim is false.
Claim 10:
Makinde’s administration wasted funds to upgrade the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Adamasingba, and that the money would have been better spent building 66 sports centres; 2 in each of the 33 local government areas in the state.
Fact
Adelabu failed to explain how the sports centres would be utilised to engage the youths and generate income, neither did he acknowledge the 6 other mini stadiums being upgraded by Makinde’s government in all zones of Oyo State. Unfortunately, Adelabu and his fellow APC members are unable to see the connection between having world class sporting facilities and the ability to host sporting events that can generate income for the state as well as engage the teeming youth population.
Verdict: This claim is false.
Claim 11:
Makinde’s administration is putting the state into an unsustainable debt position. Borrowing by the federal government is not comparable to the borrowing by the Oyo State Government because the federal government has the ability to pay and had never defaulted on a loan while the Oyo State Government doesn’t.
Fact
The Debt Management Office reports show that as at December 31, 2020, Makinde’s administration had reduced Oyo State’s external debt from the $136.53 million it inherited to $83.7 million. And that Oyo State’s domestic debt had reduced from the N99.3 billion inherited from Ajimobi’s administration to N91.9 billion as at March 31, 2021. Whereas, Nigeria’s debt under Buhari’s regime has grown from N12.12 trillion as at June 2015 to N33.1 trillion as at March 2021 and debt servicing for Q1 2021 was a whopping N1.02 trillion! Adelabu’s concerns are therefore misplaced.
Verdict: This claim is false.
Claim 12:
The Alternative Project Funding Approach adopted by the Makinde-led government to fund infrastructure projects in the state would pile up debts for his successor.
Fact:
Makinde’s administration has explained on several occasions that all contracts awarded under APFA so far would be paid up by the end of his current tenure. All ongoing projects will be completed by mid-2022.
Verdict: This claim is false.
Claim 13:
The Build Operate Transfer model would be a better model for the state to fund infrastructure projects.
Fact
Adelabu failed to explain how the investors would be able to recoup their funds for such projects. Is Adelabu suggesting that all major road projects be tolled? If not, how are the investors going to recoup their investment in building the infrastructure projects?
Verdict: This claim is unrealistic for Oyo State.
Claim 14:
The 4 bus terminals being constructed by Makinde’s administration cost N5 billion each.
Fact: The total cost of the 4 bus terminals as confirmed by Makinde’s administration is N16 billion.
Verdict: This claim is false.
Claim 15:
The 4 bus terminals being constructed by Makinde’s administration is a waste of resources as they would be underutilised.
Fact:
The 4 bus terminals are part of Makinde’s government’s plan to modernise the transportation system in Oyo State and make Oyo State the transportation hub for the southwest region.
Ironically, Adelabu praised the modern transportation system in London and acknowledged that it was generating revenue for the economy. Yet, he could not juxtapose that with the modernisation of the transportation system in Oyo State and see the potential for generating funds.
Verdict: This claim is false.
Claim 16:
The acquisition of sole ownership of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso is a wasteful one which Oyo State cannot afford. He challenged Makinde to explain where the state would get the money to fund the university when under the previous administration, both Oyo State and Osun State could not together, fund the university and were owing subventions.
Fact:
Even before the Oyo State Government got sole ownership of LAUTECH, it started funding it solely. In preparation for sole ownership, Makinde’s administration had included sole financing of LAUTECH in the 2020 budget and all subventions since January 2020 have been paid promptly.
Verdict: This claim is baseless.
Claim 17:
It is untrue that the Oyo State Post Primary Schools Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) had employed 5,000 teachers.
Fact:
The recruitment of 5,000 teachers by TESCOM is a well-publicised fact that can be easily verified. The teachers resumed in February 2021.
Verdict: This claim is false.
Claim 18:
Makinde had promised at least one functional primary healthcare centre in all 351 wards of Oyo State. When a journalist pointed out to Adelabu that the upgrades of 299 PHCs were ongoing, Adelabu stated that the claim was ‘lori iro.’
Fact:
In March 2021, the Oyo State Executive Council approved the award of the renovation and equipping of 299 PHCs in Oyo State to 2 different contractors under the Alternative Project Funding Approach. These upgrades are currently ongoing and have even been completed in some PHCs.
Verdict: This claim is false.
Bonus:
Adelabu had the herculean task of defending the APC led federal government. He could see no irony in asking Nigerians to be patient and bear the pain inflicted by the 6-year-long Muhammadu Buhari led regime while at the same time criticising Makinde for ‘failing’ the people of Oyo State after 2 years in office. On both security and the economy when he had to defend the federal government’s actions and inactions, he either gave the government a pass or told outright lies.
According to Adelabu, controlling the influx of strangers and youth empowerment will lead to an improvement in the security situation in Oyo State. Interestingly, Adelabu gave the federal government which according to the constitution is responsible for security in Nigeria a pass for the worsening insecurity in the nation which is impacting all states.
When asked about the failed CBN monetary policies which was worsening the economic situation in the country, Adelabu lied that Buhari’s regime had brought inflation down to single digits upon assumption of office and that it was only in the past year and half that inflation had worsened.
In fact, inflation was 8.9% in May 2015 when Buhari assumed office, it rose to 17.78 by February 2017. Inflation is currently at 17.93%.
In the light of the above, it behoves the people of Oyo State that they do not fall for the lies of Adelabu and the APC as we approach 2023. Criticisms of the government in power are necessary to ensure that they deliver the good governance which they promised. However, these criticisms should be based on facts not needless lies and propaganda.
