TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
THE Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State has lamented the failure of the State Government to conduct election into the Local Government Areas and accused the state Governor, Gboyega Oyetola, of robbing grassroots populace of good governance.
Consequently, the party has demanded Oyetola’s resignation for allegedly bastardising local government administration and making it dysfunctional.
Since the expiration of the tenure of parliamentarians about three months ago, the affairs of the 30 local governments and 38 local council development areas are being run by Council Managers, who are civil servants.
The State Government, through the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ismail Omipidan, had said the list of caretaker committee was almost ready and that the current shut down of the State House of Assembly, due to PASAN strike, contributed to the delay in the constitution of the caretaker list.
But the PDP Publicity Secretary, Jacob Ayodeji Areola, in a statement made available on Wednesday, claimed that Oyetola lacked proper governance ideas and that there was a need for the governor to resign for robbing people at the grassroots of proper leaders and dividends of governance.
The PDP berated Oyetola for allegedly playing politics with the lives of grassroot populace and alleged further that “he (Oyetola) deliberately obstructed local government administration in the state on the altar of his APC intra-party squabbles and obvious fraudulent practices.”
It said, “We wonder why the closest tier of government to the good people of Osun State has recklessly been raped, ravaged and callously left dysfunctional.
“We understand Mr Oyetola was still a political milking infant as at the time of his ‘presidential remote controlled ascension of office’. However, as a product of a dying platform like APC, the PDP expects Mr Oyetola to rise above his false fortune and give the people of our dear state a semblance of good governance, especially at the local government level.
“It is unthinkable that a self professed genius in public management would be so entangled in abject confusion over conduct of local government election where acceptable administrators are to be elected.
“Granted that the governor and his cabinet of baby cheerleaders are bereft of basic and rudiments of governance in a constitutional democracy, Osun State must not be made a pawn in their political chessboard, where certified apprentices are claiming political ‘Yokosuna’, thereby, leaving the state to suffer for their immaturity, cluelessness and arrogance.
”Mr Oyetola must enroll with his masters on the need to make local governments in the state actively functional for the good of our people or resign in defeat.
“Leaving local government Administration in the hands of some dictatorial managers, while settling political scores or engaging in political “friendly fire” at the expense of our people in the state, who are mostly rural dwellers, is most uncharitable, unreasonable and absolutely unacceptable.”
“Good governance via a viable and functional Local Government Administration is a statutory right of Osun people and this is not negotiable,” the statement added.
