Osun government alleges looting at Abuja Governor’s Lodge

Allegation mere diversionary tactic, says Oyetola

Osun State Government has again alleged that the immediate past administration of Gboyega Oyetola brazenly carted away government property at the state Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.

Spokesperson to Governor Ademola Adeleke, Olawale Rasheed, disclosed this in a statement yesterday. The state’s Assets Inventory and Recovery Committee, under the Chairmanship of Dr. B.T. Salam and other top government functionaries, said that upon physical inspection carried out at the weekend at the Abuja building, items, such as television sets, chairs, foams, electrical fittings, bed-sheets, spoons and cutleries, among other valuables, were illegally removed from the Lodge.

The statement further revealed that civil servants in the Abuja Lodge confirmed the pillaging of the state’s assets by Oyetola’s men but said they were powerless in stopping them.

REACTING to the allegation of looting in Abuja, media aide to Oyetola, Ismail Omipidan, described it as a mere diversionary tactic by the governor to cover up his unpreparedness to govern the state.

Omipidan also said the governor’s constant accusations, while the panels were still sitting, were indications that the panels are set up to do hatchet jobs.

He said that what Osun had witnessed in the last two weeks was a vindication of his earlier position that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not ready for governance.

“Recall that when he (Adeleke) inaugurated his transition committee in July, one of the terms of reference of the committee was to design for the governor what he would do within his first 100 days in office. And I said clearly then that these people were not ready for governance. We all can see it now. It is manifesting.

“First, they alleged it was my principal who looted. I came up with the inventory and the fact that the new governor’s security operatives took charge of the Government House on November 26 and on inauguration day, they held a party there. But by December 1, they came up with a lie to say the place was looted. Till date, they have not controverted the facts I laid bare. Today, they have started another lie.

“I say for the umpteenth time that my principal did not loot any state assets. Therefore, this government should stop these blanket statements of accusing Oyetola and his men of what they did not do and face governance,” he declared.