Be receptive to correction, APC guber aspirant tackles Adeleke

A gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Osun, Sen. Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, has again taken a swipe at the administration of Governor Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke’s penchant for attacking those who offer useful advice.

Adeleke, reacting through his spokesman, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, had reacted to Basiru’s advice on how the Adeleke administration is making life unbearable for the people of the state.

A statement by Basiru, who is also the national secretary of the APC, said he would not stop at anything to give useful advice to Adeleke as anything that happens to Osun will affect him and others.

According to the former commissioner who currently chairs the National Sugar Development Commission, NSDC, he expected that the incumbent government would not take his advice because, from day one, it likes to be praised, even for the littlest of things.

Said Basiru, “The reaction is yet another sad example of the administration’s inability to engage in constructive discourse. Instead of addressing clear failures, the government continues its descent into baseless abuse, theatrical name-calling, and hollow propaganda.

“It is important to remind the Adeleke administration that governance is not about trading insults but about responding to accountability with facts. A government that has failed across critical sectors cannot hide behind slogans and solar lights that barely last a week.

“While the administration boasts of a 40 percent debt reduction, it conveniently hides the fact that Osun’s federal allocation has increased by over 300 percent. What the Adeleke government claims as a financial discipline is simply the benefit of increased federal oil receipts, not strategic fiscal management and discipline.

“Governor Adeleke has denied the widespread reports of teachers disengagement since assuming office. Why did Adeleke sack about 5000 teachers employed by his predecessor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola? Two and a half years later, why has he not engaged them again?

Senator Ajibola Basiru once said in an interview that APC doesn’t mind if Adeleke replaces all the 5000 with members of his party. What matters is securing the future of our children. Besides, Thursday, last week, made it exactly a year since Adeleke announced the employment of temporary staff at the State-owned media. No employment letter has been issued to them to date.

“The road commissioned with media fanfare was washed away within two days, a clear indictment of the substandard quality that defines this administration’s projects. The recurring cases of solar panel poles breaking within weeks and nonexistent borehole projects across wards are a testament to how little value is placed on durability and transparency.

“In a shocking display of poor planning, the government had to start digging under the Oke Fia flyover, because trucks could not pass under. Is this the infrastructural revolution they boast about?

“Osun people have yet to see any clear agenda for agriculture, water and sanitation, or market expansion. These are critical to livelihood. Yet Adeleke’s government has ignored them while focusing on showmanship and media stunts.

“Adeleke’s handlers have made it a habit to resort to street-level abuse when called to account. This culture of insults and diversion cannot replace transparent governance. No self-respecting administration attacks its critics with gutter language instead of facts.

“I remain undeterred. I will continue to speak out for Osun people and demand real leadership, not choreography, not excuses, and certainly not an abuse-laced response to legitimate questions,” the Osogbo-born politician added.