Osun State’s Governor Ademola Adeleke has set up a panel to implement the report and the white paper of the committee on contracts awarded by the administration of his predecessor, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola.
Oyetola (2018-2022) handed over to Adeleke on November 27, 2022, and was appointed Minister of Marine and Blue Economy in the cabinet of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023.
Adeleke hinged his decision to institute a probe on the alleged humongous contract fraud detected under the previous administration of his predecessor.
A statement on Thursday by the spokesperson for the Governor, Olawale Rasheed, on Thursday, the eight-man panel has been charged with enforcing the recommendations of that original review committee and the subsequent white paper approved by the State Executive Council.
Members include: Kolapo Alimi, Commissioner for Information; Wole Jimi Bada, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice; Dosu Babatunde, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters; Jola Akintola, Commissioner for Health; Bashiru Bello, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure and Bello Sheriff, Senior Special Assistant on Bureau of Social Services.
The statement read:“Terms of reference of the panel include enforcing the recommendations in the committee report and white paper, ensuring prosecution of culprits through relevant agencies and implementing all institutional recommendations to prevent reoccurrence of distortions in contract award and management.
“The committee is expected to commence operations immediately by giving effect to each of the committee recommendations as approved by the State Executive Council.”
However, Osun State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tajudeen Lawal, has described the move as a ploy to cover up mismanagement by the Adeleke administration uncovered by the opposition party.
In a statement, Lawal said it was “funny that an administration that awarded road/flyover contract to the serving deputy speaker of the state House of Assembly without following the due process would now suddenly consider the setting up of an implementation panel of the White Paper on the Contract Review Committee?
“We wondered that why was it a day after our party accused Governor Adeleke of awarding state road/flyover contracts to his brother and nephew that he(Adeleke) suddenly considered it expedient to set up an implementation committee?
“Adeleke should thread softly as Osun people are now wiser and knowledgeable enough to read the true motive of his action meant to unjustifiably victimise the opposition for having the effrontery to catalogue the series of frauds his government is perpetrating against the state in the name of prosecution of legacy projects.”