The lawmaker representing Ekiti Constituency in the Kwara State House of Assembly, Honourable Abolarin Ganiyu Gabriel has described the purported claim by the National President of Oke-Opin Progressive Union, Mr. Femi Adewumi Fatulu, that the community has not benefited anything from the administration of governor AbdulRasaq AbdulRahman, as most unfair to the administration and an act of partisanship carried too far, by a supposed community union which should be immuned from the murky water of politics.
While, reacting to the statement said to have been made by the community leader during the commissioning of a renovated block of classrooms at Anglican Comprehensive High School, Oke-Opin, Abolarin pointedly made it known that what Oke-Opin has benefited from the present administration in the state under 3-years cannot be compared to what the community must have benefited under the 16-years of the PDP.
He made it known that Oke-Opin is a very important community to the present administration in the state just like other communities. This was the reason why the community will not be overlooked in terms of development and distribution of infrastructures and other things.
He pointedly asserted that Oke-Opin was among the few communities in Ekiti Local Government, which had benefited in the sitting of the ongoing Kwara State Universal Basic Education, KWA-SUBEB projects with the constitution of a block of 2-classrooms at Central Primary School 2, Oke-Opin.
He mentioned that about 13 indigenes of Oke-Opin had benefited form the recruitment exercise held in 2021 by both Kwara’ State Universal Basic Education, KWA-SUBEB and Kwara’ State Teaching Service Commission, TESCOM, to recruit new teachers.
“Two other indigenes of the community who are health care providers have also benefited in the recent recruitment by the State Civil Service into the State owned hospitals in which I personally influenced their appointment.
Honourable Abolarin went further to mention his own personally executed projects in Oke-Opin, which includes infrastructural and social empowerment. He mentioned that he has successful sunk and completed a motorised borehole in Oke-Opin despite the challenges of poor nature of the substructure of the soil which debarred the drilling within the core centre of the community.
“Asides, 6-indigenes of the community were trained under my Youth skills acquisition programme and were subsequently empowered with start-off Capital and another 5-indigenes were empowered with working tools ranging from Deep Freezer, grinding machines, among other things during the recent AGG Working Tools Empowerment Programme which I organised and funded.”
“Under this same 3-years old administration of Governor AbdulRasaq AbdulRahman, the Ekiti local government administration has renovated the Community Health Centre, while 5- hand pumps boreholes were also rehabilitated.”
‘I am also aware of the installation of new 32kva transformer at the Oke-Opin Health Centre, to boost electricity distribution and supply in the community by the federal lawmaker representing Ekiti/Oke-Ero/Isin/Irepodun federal Constituency, Honourable Olawuyi Raheem Olatunji (Ajulo-Opin), which the installation is presently ongoing, with a move to equip the health center scheduled to commence soonest.”
“However, the Oke-Opin township road which was awarded in October 2014 to Messrs Alaco Construction Company at the sum of Two Hundred and Forty Nine Million, Three Hundred and Thirty Thousand, Eight Hundred and Seventy One Naira and Thirteen Kobo (N249,330,871.13) by the AbdulFatah Ahmed’s adminstration has remained uncompleted despite record showing that more than 90% of the fund meant for the road has been paid out.
The record at the Ministry of Finance had shown that a sum of Two Hundred and Twenty Six Million, Eight Hundred and Thirty Three Thousand, Nine Hundred and Thirty Three Naira, Twenty-Nine Kobo (N226,833,933.29) amounting to more than 90 % of the total contract sum has been paid out to the contractor, leaving just the retention fee as the outstanding balance, whereas, the job done on the road is still at 63%.
During cross-examination with the House of Assembly Committee on Works and Transport, which I chaired, the contractor had confessed to how the officials of the past PDP administration, who are the ‘jolly good friends’ of the President of Oke-Opin Progressive Union, had verbally instructed him to stop work on the Oke-Opin road despite gotten all due payment for the construction work. The contractor had also told the committee of how the individuals in the PDP administration then had used the Oke-Opin township road to obtained a bond of Fifty million Naira (N50,000,000) from Sterling bank but the money was neither given to him as the contractor, nor was it expended on the project.”
“So, when one sees the president of a community union ‘wining and dining’ with individuals and political party which ‘diverted’ and ’embezzled’ fund meant for the development of his community, such may call for serious concern by all well meaning indigenes of such a community.”
“I can tell you today that the present administration under governor AbdulRasaq AbdulRahman is bent on recovering every penny meant for the Oke-Opin township road which was ’embezzled’ by the immediate past PDP administration in the state as the issues concerning the particular project is presently been investigated by the anti-graft agency.”
“I will therefore implore all well meaning indigenes of Oke-Opin community to prevail on the community president, to learn to separate his role as a PDP member from his function as a community leader, he concluded.