Osun APC Criticizes Adeleke’s Performance as Governor Marks Two Years in Office

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has launched a scathing attack on the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke, accusing him of mismanaging the resources of the state and failing to deliver on his promises to the people of Osun in the last two years.

In a strongly worded press conference held at the Ilerioluwa Campaign Office in Osogbo, the APC State Chairman, Alhaji Tajudeen Lawal, described Adeleke’s tenure as “the most unfortunate, most ridiculous and one that had taken Osun State back to the primitive age.”

Lack of Accountability and Transparency

The APC criticized the Adeleke administration for its “deliberate refusal to fund the key sectors of the economy” despite a financial windfall, alleging that the governor has spent over ₦38 billion on personal comfort.

“Given the ₦630 billion revenue (both state and 30 LGAs) that has come the way of the current administration, the government should not have got any excuse not to have fully settled the modulated arrears,” Lawal stated, accusing the government of lacking accountability and transparency.

Mismanagement of State Resources

The APC chairman, who was represented by the party’s State Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi, claimed that the state government received ₦385 billion from federal allocation, grants, and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) between January 2023 and September 2024, including ₦4.3 billion from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and ₦1.3 billion from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).

“By all estimates, Osun has been lucky with revenue, particularly with the federal revenue which has recorded a 100% rise in the last 12 months,” Lawal said, criticizing the Adeleke administration for its alleged failure to utilize the funds effectively.

Failure in Key Sectors

The party accused the administration of sacking 1,500 teachers employed by the previous government without replacement, leading to a shortage of teachers in core subjects like physics. It also criticized the high fees charged at the newly established University of Ilesa, where law students are required to pay ₦1.5 million per session, and nursing students ₦1.2 million.

The APC claimed that the government has failed to adequately fund the health sector, with the party alleging that the administration has “sacked, without replacement, about 2,000 health workers, comprising nurses, medical doctors and pharmacists” employed by the previous government.

The opposition party accused the Adeleke administration of lacking the political will to formulate the right strategy for the agricultural sector, leading to an “acute food shortage in the state.”

Misguided Priorities

The APC further criticized the Adeleke government for its alleged misplaced priorities, stating that the administration has allocated ₦3 billion to purchase 20 Land Cruiser Jeeps for “unproductive politicians,” while a single computer laptop was bought for ₦2.1 million.

The APC claimed that the Adeleke administration has failed to fully settle the modulated arrears owed to workers, despite the financial windfall, with only 47% of the ₦82 billion earmarked for personnel costs being released as of September 2024. The party also alleged that out of the ₦20.5 billion budgeted for pensions and gratuities in 2024, only ₦4.8 billion, representing less than 20%, had been released by the end of the third quarter.

The APC chairman described the two-year tenure of the Adeleke administration as one where “there has been an absence of government in Osun in the last two years,” stating that the “existence of Adeleke’s government is a ruse as it only exists on paper.”