Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State and the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are currently engaged in verbal war over more than N48billion assets declared by the state governor, Seyi Makinde, to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
Makinde had made his assets public in a statement issued on Monday by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr. Taiwo Adisa.
But the APC chairman in the state, Chief Akin Oke, challenged Makinde on Tuesday to disclose the source of his wealth, saying: “I don’t think I want to make comment on the issue, since I have no idea, but it raises a number of issues. He just declared what he has, how he came about the asset is not there.
“Going by my experience and exposure, I think it is too early to honestly assess a governor just after a few weeks in office. I would rather wait till after 100 days, or even after six months.
“To start assessing people after six weeks in office will be so unfair if one wants to be honest to his conscience.”
But in a swift reaction, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Adisa, told journalists in Ibadan that the governor’s action “portends probity and accountability. A lot will use that as a gimmick to win votes. Immediately he was elected, he put machinery in place.
“Many would not want him to have done that so as not to expose himself to the world, since the law does not want him to do that. Makinde said his words are his bounds and would not shy away from that reality. It’s a great mark for accountability, sincerity, and probity in the state. That’s what he is demonstrating.
On the call by the APC chairman in the state that Makinde should disclose the source of his wealth, Adisa stated: “Somebody in APC should be ashamed of reacting on this matter. What Makinde did was also required to have been done by those who served under Ajimobi (the immediate past governor, Abiola Ajimobi), but they did not do it.”
Adisa said APC does not need to keep playing the opposition with everything, arguing that if APC had failed and Makinde has been taking steps to put things the way they should be, it should not be politicised. He added that the reaction of APC to the assets declared by Makinde “shows shamelessness on this matter.”