PDP RAISES ALARM OVER N2M DAILY PAYMENTS TO OSUN C'TTEE

Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised  alarm over the alleged daily payment of N2million  to the members of the  Local Government Creation Committee set up by the state Governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola as sitting allowance. It also challenged the Governor to disclose to the world how much he has paid Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi as consultancy fee for the exercise.

The party also alleged that the state government had paid over N140million as sitting allowance alone to the members of the committee.

Reacting to the allegations, the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Akinrogun Sunday Akere said that the allegation was nothing but the ranting of a confused and corrupt lot adding that for the party to insinuate that N2m was released daily to the committee shows how low they could go.

Akere said, 'It is only a reckless, profligate and fraudulent administration like the one ran by the PDP in its seven and half years who can claim it spent N420m demolishing an hotel building, that can spend such. Where even is the money that so much can be committed? Theirs is the case of a pot calling the kettle black and they should be better ignored'.

The PDP, in a statement issued by its Director of Publicity  and Media, Prince Diran Odeyemi, said it was indefensible that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) government  was paying each member of the committee a whopping N.2million per sitting on a daily basis for the past 74 days .

The party also challenged the Aregbesola government to explain how it calculated the N.2million allowance allegedly paid to each of the committee members apart from providing them with other basic expenses such as hotel accommodation and official vehicles.

His words:'Even members of the state and National Assemblies who will eventually approve whatever the committee is doing do not collect such huge funds. With the majority of the committee members drawn from outside the state, it is now clear that the exercise is another ploy to further plunder and export the state's treasury to Lagos.

'We challenge the ACN government to come out with the amount spent so far on this committee including consultancy fee paid Senator Afikuyomi so that the whole world will see how prudent it has been in the management of the people's collective patrimony'.

LEADERSHIP recalls that the 10-man committee has a former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Prof. Mojeed Alabi as its chairman while other members are Mrs. Adeola Adeosun, Mr. Lekan Babalola, Mr. Sikiru Hassan, Mr. Gbenga Awosode, Mr. Adejoke Olatunde, Col. Olayiwola Talabi (rtd.), Mr. Femi Popoola, Mr. Sola Oladepo and Mr. Francis Olatoye.