A political group in Osun State, the Progressives Minded Forum has cried out over alleged attempted government sponsored attack on the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on Monday, 14 March, 2022 in Osogbo, Osun State.
According to a statement signed by Sunday Oriowo, Coordinator, PMF, the attack was not violent, unlike the previous one where the convoy of the Minister was attacked by political hoodlums who made attempt on Aregbesola’s life at Orisunmibare, Osogbo.
The Monday failed attacks, according to Oriowo, was a malicious civil action sponsored by some aides to Governor Gboyega Oyetola.
“We believed these government officials were acting on behalf of the governor, who is determined to carry on his bitter politics against his benefactor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. The first civil action failed why the second did not get the desired attention,” he said.
Oriowo disclosed that the first malicious action sponsored by the government against the Minister was the mobilization of some people who were disguise as pensioners in the state to protest against the minister during the commissioning of the 72-unit Federal Mortgage Housing Estate in Abere. But the plan failed because security agents had been duly informed ahead.
He revealed that the information leaked out when the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr Jamiu Olawumi, was confidently telling some people on WhatsApp platforms on Sunday evening that “pensioners will welcome Aregbesola tomorrow.
“The information was processed and it was discovered that the government had paid some people to disguise as pensioners and protest against the former Governor of the State of Osun. Security agents were duly informed and the plan was thwarted”.
Having failed in the first plan, the PMF coordinator said the government activated its second plan by engaging ‘The Masterminds’, a group known for its hypocrisy, money-driven opinion and financially induced press conferences, to launch attack on the Minister, in a desperate bid to discredit his official assignment in Osogbo.
“It is important to note that The Masterminds is a group of four or five disgruntled elements who are willing tools in the hand of the government. No wonder the PDP described them as group of people with inglorious activities and followers of many mushroom CSOs with which they used to dupe political parties, governments and unsuspecting individuals,” the statement said.
The procured group, he said, called selected journalists to a press conference on Monday, 14 March, 2022, where one Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli read out a script prepared for him by one of top media aide to Governor Oyetola.
The group, as usual, shamefully raised issue on the debt profile of the state, accusing Aregbesola of plunging the state into debt which was responsible for the minus allocation to the state from FAAC. The group asked Governor Oyetola to address the people of the state and tell them the kind of government he inherited from Aregbesola.
“May we as stakeholders in Osun State ask Governor Oyetola to tell the people the debt profile of the state when he took over power in 2018, the repayment method and projects that the loans were expended on. The Governor should please tell the people of the state how much the state is earning from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR),” the statement said.
Dr Wale Bolorunduro, former Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning of the state had written: “But we know the total loan deduction at the inception of Oyetola administration was N2.4 billion. With completion of conventional bond (1st tranche) in July 2019, it fell to N1.8bn and by April 2019, it fell to N1.5bn, after the completion of Sukuk bond. I can autograph this figure, any day and anywhere. Data don’t tell lies. Therefore, anything significantly above this must be “other deductions” attributable completely to Oyetola’s administration and which must be exposed.”
“Mr Governor sir, members of the public would like to know “other deductions” which put the state into negative in the February allocation. The people will also like to know how you have been funding the little projects you have embarked upon since all your claim is ‘there is no money in the state.’ We recall that Mr Governor was the Chairman of Debt Management Board, the fact and figure of the debt profile of Osun is with him. The Governor should speak as requested by the deluded Masterminds.
“Besides, it is pathetic that a supposed objective group would close its eye to the nondisclosure of N11.9 billion refund to the Osun State government on Federal Government project executed by Aregbesola, but rather continue to blame the former governor for the debt. May we ask the self-styled group why it has refused to talk on the assets left behind by the Aregbesola’s administration that have increased the IGR of the state.
“The Masterminds should ask Oyetola why the projects he inherited have been fallen into ruins under him. The group should genuinely serve the interest of the people by asking why social programmes like Osun Ambulance Service and O’Clean have not been functioning well under Oyetola.
“The general public should ask The Masterminds why it has refused to speak on the insecurity in the state, in the face of the incessant killings, cult clashes and violent thuggery activities that have taken over the state. The Mastermind should explain why it has refused to issue a press release on the death of OAU student, the cult clashes in Ilesa and Osogbo, the violence in Ede, armed robbery and ritual killings in Ile-Ife.
“We note that members of The Masterminds cannot raise voice against the Oyetola’s administration because it is their ‘pot of soup’. The group is procured by the government to continue attacking Aregbesola, but the more the attacks come, the more the popularity of the Minister. The general public should know that The Mastermind is Oyetola’s sponsored group and nothing serious could come out of it”.
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