The Labour Party (LP) in Ogun State has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Governor Ibikunle Amosun of using ongoing road expansion and construction of bridges to deplete the purse of the state.
This, coupled with alleged failure of the administration to fulfil its promises, among other factors would no doubt lead to the failure of the government to return to power in 2015.
These were the positions of the State Secretary of the LP, Hon. Dayo Adeyemi, on Wednesday.
The APC government, Adeyemi stressed, is doomed and the people of the state are waiting for the next election to vote it out.
Adeyemi, a former member of the Ogun State House of Assembly, explained that the failure of Amosun had pitched the APC government against the people, who, according to him, are fully prepared to vote the administration out of power.
“Without gainsaying, the present administration in the state had completely failed the people,” the LP secretary said.
He added: “In fact, the administration had been a disappointment to the people of the state, who felt that a ‘messiah’ had come when they were sworn in on May 29, 2011.
“They have lost the goodwill and confidence of the people who are only counting days to see their exit. It has been difficult for the administration to fulfil virtually all the promises they made to the people during their electioneering campaign.
“The administration is over three years old, yet no single model school had been completed despite the promise of the governor that the schools shall be ready for occupation in September, 2012.”
The former lawmaker explained that his party was set to take over power from the ruling government.
“Our party, Labour Party, is fully prepared to take over the mantle of leadership in Ogun State come 2015. As a prelude to this, we had successfully harmonised all the different platforms which came together to form the (new) LP in the state,” he boasted.
“After the harmonisation, we have held our congresses from the ward to the state levels in accordance with all extant laws. Needless to say that these congresses were supervised by INEC and all the security agencies,” he added.
“The resolve of our party is to ensure that the present administration is sent packing in 2015 and any political party which share the same opinion with us is welcome. In fact, as at now, we have registered over 50 groups who have shown interest in partnering with us to ensure that we achieve our aim,” Adeyemi, one-time State Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party maintained.
He, however, condemned the demolition of houses for the ongoing road expansion in the state, saying: “The demolition of houses and displacement of traders to give way for roads and bridges has been another albatross of the administration.”
According to Adeyemi, the expansion of the roads and bridges in several parts of the state was a misplaced priority by the APC government, alleging that the project had become a conduit pipe to steal the state’s fund.
He declared: “There is no doubt, the construction of overhead bridges and roads, apart from being misplaced priority, are also conduit for siphoning funds.
“What, for instance, is the need for an air conditioned pedestrian bridge constructed at a cost of over N264 million at Ita-Eko, which nobody is using?
“What is the sense in constructing a bridge from Totoro up to Sapon and of what use is the one in Mortuary at Idi-Aba? What is the volume of traffic in the major towns in the state to warrant demolition of houses for six lanes road?
“The late Alhaji Lam Adesina, a truly progressive politician and former governor of Oyo State, had said it all when he said that ‘any governor who concentrates in constructing roads and bridges is corrupt’. A kilometre of road in Ogun State today is in the range of N1 billion.”
Adeyemi promised that if voted into office, the LP government would implement programmes that would be to the benefit of the civil servants and residents of the state.
His words: “Our programmes shall be geared towards the workers and masses in Ogun State. The party, being a truly progressive one, shall implement programmes which shall better the lots of our people, especially those in the rural areas who are in the majority.
“We shall run an administration with human face, with the economic welfare of the people as its cornerstone.”
