A former deputy governor in the state, Alhaji Azeem Gbolarunmi, who addressed a press conference along with other party stalwarts said they are worried about how to campaign for the party in 2023.
Stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State have frowned on what they described as excessive borrowing by the state governor, Seyi Makinde, who is a member of their party.
A former deputy governor in the state, Alhaji Azeem Gbolarunmi, who addressed a press conference along with other party stalwarts said they are worried about how to campaign for the party in 2023.
At the press conference in Ibadan, the state capital, on Tuesday said, Gbolarunmi said, "The governor's excessive borrowings keep getting huge, and all of these are contrary to the major vision of supporting his candidature in the first place."
SaharaReporters reports that the Nigerian Debt Management Office (DMO) in March said Oyo State’s foreign debt stood at $85.27 million (N35.46 billion) while domestic debt was N142.56 billion as of December 31, 2021.
Gbolarunmi said, "It is established that one of the major political objectives of the PDP, which is to provide good governance that ensures probity and participatory democracy, and which guarantees human rights and fundamental freedoms of all person resident within the state, has not been fulfilled, despite all proposed interventions by stakeholders of the party.
"Some of the expected achievements from the governor, by members and elders of the Oyo State PDP that worked assiduously for him to be elected on the platforms of PDP, he has grossly disappointed them on, particularly, economy, insecurity, education, agriculture, healthcare, rule of law, the entrenchment of democracy, etc.
“Engr. Seyi Makinde never wanted to relate to the PDP platforms for deliberations and suggestions on how to move Oyo State. forward, to the credit of the state.
"He’d rather decided to run the state and the party singularly, particularly to discredit the party and all the well-meaning people that offered their unreserved support and labour. The scandal deliberately smeared on the party leaders and members was that they were all aggrieved because he did not open the treasury for them!”
He added, “Meanwhile, the governor's excessive borrowings keep getting huge, and all of these are contrary to the major vision of supporting his candidature in the first place.
"Another major political objective of the party expected in Oyo State is using political power for securing the state. Many members and elders of the party are at present, also feeling quite unsafe in the state, as there had been various attacks on some members of the party, either at events venues or their residences.
“Whereas, the National PDP frowns on any form of recruitment, engaging, or sponsoring. encouraging or funding thugs or terrorists in whatever form, the Party stakeholders, therefore, do express dissatisfaction with the efforts of the governor. Not promoting the established political stability within the Party nor fostering unity and integration among the members, and also not safeguarding our core values in PDP are other significant deliberate attempts of the Governor, to undermine the party in Oyo State.
"It has even been a public mockery on the Party that for almost the entire three-year tenure of the Governor, his Deputy, a man much older than him for that matter, has been treated with much disdain and relegation, all of which have been major concerns, displeasure, and sadness to the stakeholders in Oyo State PDP.
“Unfortunately, HE, the Governor has no iota of respect for wise counsels and suggestions from State Members and Leaders of the Party, meaning, the Governor has never been ready to promote and nurture democratic ideals and traditions of the Party on a sustainable basis. These can be corroborated by various Reconciliatory Teams that PDP National had set up at various times, solely to address all the internal problems of the Party, in Oyo State.
"Taking a cue from National PDP, the political objective of the Party in the state would have been, to offer equal opportunities to hold political offices, and protect, defend safeguard the interests of all members state, including the minorities. The Party also expected to promote geopolitical balancing as a principle of power-sharing, with principled character.