Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said all projects embarked on by his administration will be completed before the end of his tenure.
Aregbesola said that he was not bothered by politicians “fabricating lies over the state of finance of Osun State.”
The governor spoke in Osogbo, Osun State capital at the opening of a new privately-owned radio station, Rave FM, by the immediate past Nigerian Ambassador to the Philippines and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Yemi Farounbi.
Farounbi is a veteran journalist turned politician.
At the event, Aregbesola said all “detractors and opposition will soon come to appreciate my administration when all projects embarked on are completed before the end of my tenure in office.”
Though he acknowledged that things were financially tough for the state, he said help was on the way for the state.
He said the Gbongan-Akoda Road project and others in the state would commence before the first quarter of 2016 and that no project would be abandoned by his administration at the end of its tenure.
He said, “I will not be disturbed by bad comments from some people about my policies because I believe in God who sent me to Osun and supports me.
“What we are doing in Osun may not be appreciated now, but it will become what people will praise later; we came here and all we have been doing has been inspired by God.”
Aregbesola described as shameful the exaggeration of the debt profile of the state by some parties.
He said, “If we borrowed N800bn, like some (people) said, how could we have been able to pay the loan interest? How could we have survived? Though we took loan, and that is the only way we could have brought development to the state; as tough as it is, God and His help is on the way and Osun shall overcome.”
Farounbi thanked the governor for his support even though they belonged to different parties.
He said, “I remember when I was nominated as an ambassador and I needed the support of two senators from my state. I went to Senator Adeyeye, who is my brother, and all the senators in my state were from the Action Congress of Nigeria.
“It was Adeyeye who told me that I needed not to be bothered as the governor (Aregbesola) had instructed all the senators from the state to support me. Without meeting you (Aregbesola), you made me proud. I am grateful for all you have done, even though, I did not see you and despite the fact that we are not from the same political background.”
Meanwhile, the governor on Friday inaugurated the reconstruction of Olaiya-Junction-Asubiaro-Ita Olokan Road in Osogbo, the state capital.
The governor said the 2.8 kilometer road project was awarded to Messrs RATCON Construction Company Limited for N985m.
Aregbesola also said the state government would pay N392m as compensation to those whose buildings would be affected by the road construction.
According to him, the project will be financed from the money saved in a special purse by his administration.
The governor stated that he had written to the House of Assembly for permission to spend the money on the project, saying he believed God would supply the remaining fund to execute the project.
Claiming that the project would be completed in six months time, Aregbesola boasted that no governor, since the creation of the state, had worked for the development of the state than his administration.
He praised The Apostolic Church whose building the governor said would be demolished, for willingly agreeing that the property should be pulled down for the road project.
He said his administration would compensate the church to enable it to build another church.
Aregbesola, however, said he had paid workers’ September salaries and retirees’ pensions.
But the Peoples Democratic Party accused Aregbesola of insincerity regarding the road project.
The spokesperson for the PDP in Osun State, Mr. Diran Odeyemi, said in a statement that the state government had been allocating money for the construction of the same road in the last three years.
The statement read, “Why reconstructing Odi Olowo Road every year? What happened to the money allocated to it every year? From 2012, Odi Olowo Road has continued to be in the budget, yet nothing was done on the road.
“In 2013 and 2014, the same road was in the budget, contractors were paid and yet no serious work was done. We believe the latest inauguration is another avenue to make noise and after that spend the money on frivolity. This has exposed Aregbesola as a clueless governor.
“The people are dying of hunger daily, workers are not paid, contractors are not paid yet, Aregbesola wants to commence doing another reconstruction that will join the list of abandoned projects in the state.”
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