The Consultant to the Ogun State Governor on Media, Yinka Ogundimu has declared that the immediate past Commissioner for Finance in the state, Mr Adewale Oshinowo is economical with truth with his recent statement on the financial state of the State.
Ogundimu who bared his mind in a statement issued in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on the recent comment by Oshinowo where he said Ibikunle Amosun government left #18.3 billion in the state coffers.
He said, "It is interesting how officials of the immediate past administration in Ogun State have come out in the past month to render account of prudence during their reign from 2011 to 2019.".
The statement read, "The effort, as it is already well known, is to portray the new administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun in bad light and dim the goodwill already being enjoyed by the government, based on its good governance anchored on transparency and accountability."
"It is no longer news that Governor Abiodun, upon assumption of office on May 29, embarked on tour of structures completed and commissioned in the twilight of the administration. It is also no longer news that what the Governor saw in some places, especially the Ogun State’s Judiciary Complex in Abeokuta, was an eye-sore of a hurriedly completed structure whose engineers did not adhere to standards".
" He had immediately commissioned a panel of experts to investigate cost of the complex and why the standard fell short of expectation. The report is being awaited.
Prince Abiodun also inspected the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital and discovered that the facility in there were not only below the required standard, but the hospital also needed immediate surgery, as it were, as a result of years of neglect. Again, he commissioned a panel to look into the situation with a view to determining the needs and how to return the hospital to its glorious past".
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"On the situation at the Tai Solarin College of Education which has grounded academic activities in the institution for a few years, the governor also raised a visitation panel onward exacting an enduring solution to the crisis. Likewise the discovery that the Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology that was scheduled to take off two years ago but is yet to do so, also shocked the Governor, prompting him to immediately constitute another panel to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the institution’s take-off delay".
Ogundimu added, "In addition, Prince Abiodun has tackled issues on the civil service, education, agriculture, trade and investment, roads, youth and women development and tourism admirably, even though the administration is still less than a hundred days old. Indeed, he has given governance a new lease in Ogun State, a marked departure from the recent past".
"It can only be preposterous when a former commissioner for finance in the past administration, Mr. Adewale Oshinowo, issued a statement on Monday, describing Governor Abiodun as a shadow-chaser".
"Nothing can be more unfortunate from an officer of an administration that shunned accountability so much so that it did not consider a proper handing over to the new administration as a vital function of state".
Ogundimu said "some of the allegations levelled against the Abiodun Administration by Oshinowo include playing politics with the state’s accounting processes, although he did not substantiate this claim. He was however silent on the inflated wage bill that the new administration was forced to deal with in order to save its reputation".
"Oshinowo stated that the past administration left N18.8billion in the coffers of the Ogun State government. Ironically, this is coming nearly two months after its tenure ended on May 29, although Oshinowo, as then finance commissioner, had ample opportunity to declare the figure but failed to do so. The reason he is making the declaration at a time Governor Abiodun is emphasizing on transparency in governance can only be described as medicine after death".
"He also advised that Governor Abiodun “concentrate on building on the solid foundation laid by his predecessor.” It can then be wondered: what “solid foundation” could he be referring to, with the distaste the past administration demonstrated against accountability and transparency".
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