The Governor-elect in Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde, has insisted that hush hush money are being ferried from government coffers at an alarming rate in the last 72 hours since the announcement of the result of the gubernatorial election held on Saturday.
Makinde, in a statement on Tuesday by his Media Aide, Prince Dotun Oyelade, said that credible sources within government have revealed that non visible contracts especially, are being used as guises to cart away millions from government with the connivance of a few civil servants.
He said that while he does not want a time wasting holistic probe as he had promised during his campaign, he will set a date line upon all contracts awarded and payments made under suspicious circumstances in the dying days of the current administration.
He, however, said that he may be forced to open the books if the aim is to rush money out through foul means before May 29 and leave the state in further financial crisis.
He said that cases of unscheduled recruitments and appointments including backdated ones have also been brought before him.
He said, “Government will be fair but reverse any such move without hesitation but with consequences on those found to have committed infractions of the civil service guidelines.
He said that while it was true that outgoing Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi wrote to banks in 2011 to stop honouring cheques from Akala’s outgoing administration, he will not tow that course but warned the government not to exhaust his patience on an issue that bothers on the livelihood of the people of Oyo state.
But, the state government in its reaction said that Makinde’s allegation was far from the truth.
The state’s Commissioner for Information Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun, while describing the allegation as false and bears no iota of truth, maintained that Ajimobi since 2011 has been running the affairs of the state in a transparent manner.
Arulogun in a statement on Tuesday evening said, “The Oyo State Government in reacting to the latest in a series of propaganda wishes to state categorically and expressly that the statement by the spokesperson of the Governor-elect that the Ajimobi led administration is siphoning money from government coffers is patently false and bears no iota of truth.
“It is a hoax intended to heat up the polity and whip up sentiments.
“Governor Abiola Ajimobi, who will be in the saddle of the state till the expiration of his tenure on May 28 2019 has been running the affairs of the State including fiscal transactions in the last eight years in a transparent manner in accordance with good governance and best practices.
“The Oyo State Government will continue to operate in line with its constitutional and statutory responsibilities.
At the appropriate time, the necessary machinery will be instituted for the outgoing and incoming administration to meet and establish the desirable transition obligations”.
