- If true, govt must have its reasons – Spokesperson
A former head of service in Osun State, Elder Segun Akinwusi, has accused Governor Rauf Aregbesola of selling off a property belonging to the state government but located in Lagos.
Akinwusi alleged that the property, a 32-flat Osun House at Cooper Road in Ikoyi, Lagos, was among other properties of the state sold off by the Aregbesola administration.
Sold house was a big investment, generating revenue for the state
Accusing Aregbesola’s administration of wasteful spending, the former head of service also claimed that the governor had secretly sold off the Teaching Service Commission building owned by the state government.
Akinwusi further alleged that Aregbesola might have sold the government properties to some of his political associates.
Speaking during an interview on a radio programme monitored in Osogbo, Akinwusi said that the Osun House in Lagos was a big investment that had been generating revenue for the state government before Aregbesola allegedly put it off for sale.
According to the exHoS, the state had, therefore, remained “an empty shell” owing to the alleged profligacy of the Aregbesola administration.
He said, “The house has been generating revenue for the state. This is a big investment and it’s unfortunate that Aregbesola’s administration has decided to further milk the state dry by selling it off. Aregbesola also sold an old Tescom building in Osogbo. The old governor’s office that was converted to market was not owned by the state government but by four people in the state. The profligacy of the state government has turned the state to an empty shell. Nobody knows what goes on in Osun. All Aregbesola’s shady deals have been folded in secrecy and deceit.”
When asked if he had any document to back up his claims against the governor, Akinwusi said, “I know the way this government operates. What document can I have access to when people in government cannot have access to it? Before, when you get to Osun House in Lagos, you would see the notice, ‘Osun House: This House belongs to Osun State Government,’ boldly written on the building and on a sign post, but it’s no longer there. That’s part of the evidence that it has been sold off. TESCOM was a building owned by the state government but they drove people who were there out and rented apartments that government now pay its rents at exorbitant rates.”
Akinwusi also said that he did not have the idea of the price at which the house was allegedly sold off, adding, “I do not have the idea of the person the house was sold to, but I am still making investigation. This is a government that does inside trading and I know it’s either one of them or their political associates that would buy them.”
But when contacted for the state government’s reaction, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lani Baderinwa, denied knowledge of the issues concerning the property.
He stated that if the house had truly been sold off, the government would have a reason for doing that.
He said, “It’s not to my knowledge. To the best of my knowledge, I know the house on Cooper Road and I know it was being shared by both Osun and Oyo state governments and I know the house is being put to use to a large extent by the Osun State Government for a very long time now.
“But even then, come to think about it, if a house is lying fallow and not being put to proper use, and you think, on a personal level that putting it off for sale would be best for you, why wouldn’t you do it? “…
So, what I am saying in essence is that if it was sold truly, definitely, there must have been a reason for it.” Challenging Akinwusi to produce documents to back his claims, the commissioner added, “I want him (Akinwusi) to produce documents by which the transaction took place so that we can be sure of the veracity of what he (Akinwusi) is telling the people. It is not sufficient to just make claims, he needs to establish the allegations.”
