Adebutu Flags Off Governorship Campaign, Urges Electorate To Rescue Ogun From APC Misrule

ABEOKUTA – The Governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun state, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu has enjoined eligible voters in the state to brace up for good governance by joining hands with him and candidates of the party to rescue the state from the current incompetent APC administration.

Adebutu made the appeal while delivering his speech at the official flag off campaign of the party for the 2023 general election.

The flag off ceremony which was held at Ake Palace Ground, Ake, Abeokuta, had in attendance dignitaries of the party including various groups and associations.

The former federal lawmaker explained that the party is ready to deliver the people of the state from the shackles of APC misrule in line with its core social and economic components which are intrinsically linked with human capital development, competitive economy and good governance.

According to Hon. Adebutu, the PDP government if elected will facilitate timely execution of projects by publishing the detailed implementation plans and roadmaps and make them available to desiring stakeholders in the State, in order to demonstrate transparency, accountability and firm commitment of the party.

“Our government will facilitate timely execution of projects by publishing the detailed implementation plans and roadmaps and make them available to desiring stakeholders in the State, in order to demonstrate transparency, accountability and our firm commitment toward actualisation.

“We realize that our people are tired of the misrule and bad governance fostered on them now; hence the clamour for a change. We seize this opportunity to acknowledge the role of the judiciary in upholding the law and ultimately standing by our constitution and the electoral law by delivering judgements that will further entrench democracy in our nation.

“Today, we are here to formally declare our readiness as a party to take over power on the way to good governance in May 2023. We recognize that this process cannot be easy and it is because it is difficult, we have chosen to walk this path to achieve victory in the general elections of 2023.

“Our commitment to deliver the good people of Ogun State from the shackles of the ruling party stems from the first-hand experience I have by living amongst my people in Ogun State for the past 31 years. I am proud to say that I have not for once lived outside our beloved State for any appreciable time during this period. I make bold to say that all my life investments are domiciled in Ogun State. With these realities, I am privileged to feel the pains our people go through to earn a living and eke out a meaningful life.

“Unfortunately, in most recent times, the government has not been available for the people it governs with provisions of basic social services, particularly at the lower tier of government.

“In our quest to serve the people of our dear state, we conducted an independent survey to identify the needs of our people, the result of the survey is alarming and as a matter of fact, there is a need for an urgent rescue mission.

“The survey revealed high rates of endemic poverty, youth unemployment, inadequate social services, poor infrastructure and insecurity, the cumulative effect is unbearable life for all and sundry. Insecurity pervades our communities and has become the norm, as our people cannot sleep with eyes closed again.

“Dear people of Ogun State, it will interest you to know how much damage this government has caused us as a result of their inexperience, lack of integrity, incompetence and stratospheric height while key members of the government presently face grievous charges of corruption which ideally should have caused them to recuse themselves from governance.

“The debt profile of the state is of great concern and worry, it keeps increasing since the inception of this government in 2019. The debt rose from N173.07bn in 2019 to N192.82bn in 2020, which caused our state to be ranked 7th most indebted state out of the 36 states. The situation has continued to get worse as the State’s debt is now been shielded from the public because it has astronomically gone up.

“The domestic debt profile as recorded by this administration again rose from N155.57bn in 2021 to N241.78bn by June 2022 representing a disheartening 55.4% increase in debt. This government has continuously succeeded in enlisting Ogun State in the list of highest indebted states in the country.

“Under their administration, the state dropped to the 19th position on the 2021 Fiscal Performance Ranking from the 3rd position in 2020, contrary to their fake noise and hype that there was improvement in the Internally Generated Revenue of the state, the sharp slide from the 3rd position to the 19th position within 10 months of review was as a result of the decline in the IGR of the state by about 28.44%. In correct perspective, the IGR dropped with about N20.17bn within a period of 11 months.”

He continued, “In contrast to the make-belief of this government that it grew the IGR to attain the 10th position in the 2021 fiscal performance, the expenditure per capita of Ogun State was at N5,120 per citizen which was lower than the National average of N8,129 spending per citizen on all the 36 states.

“Sadly, with all the IGR generated in 2021, their government implemented just 63.25% of the approved budget; a chunk of this expenditure was claimed to have been spent on: Personnel and overhead costs; yet the government is owing workers heavily with 72 months unpaid contributory deductions; 8 years leave allowance which means the government has sadly not paid any deductions in their 4 years in office, 13th month allowance.

“Capital projects; yet our roads are very bad, the state cannot boast of meaningful projects worth the value of N82.38bn.

“Some of the roads they claimed they constructed in 2021 are already failing in just one year.
Interestingly, alluding to the assertion of the Honourable Minister for Works and Housing, our Governor is particularly enamored with Federal roads.

“The question is why is he particular about the construction of Federal roads? Could it be because he is able to manipulate the accounting process of refund. However, we note that the Honourable Minister advised him to face his State roads.

“Little wonder, highly indebted companies owned by them become debt free, obviously with the State fund.

“Like we have always been pointing out, this government places no value to the lives of our people hence the neglect we experience in all major social services like health and medical services, education, sports and so on.

“Sadly, with only just 7.19% and 24.92% of the approved 2021 budget spent on education and health respectively, other critical social services similarly suffered from the budget implementation which had serious implications on service delivery and economic growth and development.

“Driven by sincere conviction to make life comfortable and as close to utopia as possible, which by the special grace of God, I have clearly demonstrated through my antecedents, including my tenures at the National Assembly and my numerous statewide philanthropic gestures, I hereby offer to our people, myself and my Co-travelers as harbingers of relief -ITURA, and a good life, so our people will have hope for a better future.”

Meanwhile, the Ogun State Deputy Governorship candidate of PDP, Hon. AbdulKabir Adekunle Akinlade was formally inaugurated as head of the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Council.