The Congress of All Progressives in Osun State and the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party exchanged words on Saturday regarding the suspension of the Executive Secretary of the Osun Health Insurance Agency, Dr. Niyi Oginni, and the Head of the Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr. Adebukola Olujide, Governor Ademola Adeleke.
The suspension announcement of the two officers was contained in a statement signed by the governor’s spokesman, Olawale Rasheed, in Osogbo.
According to the statement, the committee created to investigate them had discovered in its recommendation the “unethical practices of the suspended chiefs of OSHIA and the Board of Primary Health Care that manifest themselves in the awarding of contracts without due process, the failure to remission of actual bid fee collected from contractors, non-value-for-money contracts like PHCs, and deliberate splitting of contracts.”
“The committee further found that the suspended head of OHIS awarded contracts to the tune of several million naira to his biological daughter and her private hospital in the agency he heads, while the acting career head in Primary Health Care (Board ) lied. him under oath when he falsely denied knowledge of all infrastructure and supply contracts at the PHCs, resorting to bulk-passing and blame-shifting.”
Shortly after taking the oath, Adeleke revoked all appointments made to the civil service since her predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola, lost his re-election. He also suspended the president and members of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission.
Prior to the latest suspension, based on the recommendation of the state asset recovery committee, the governor had suspended the project coordinator and consultant for the Agua Ilesa Project.
In reaction to the suspension of the former Oyetola collaborators, the state chapter of the APC, through its spokesman, Mr. Kola Olabisi, accused Adeleke of abdicating her position and leaving the government in the hands of some committees.
Olabisi further added: “The people of the state are fed up. Where is the governor? When was the last time he heard from the governor himself? He is just running the government by proxy. With the way things are going, it’s possible that one day he’ll fire himself as governor.”
But the acting chairman of the PDP, Dr. Adekunle Akindele, said
“They (APC) are sore losers. Why does what they are saying bother you? The governor is very present, the committees are working. The opposition is only nervous that most of their nefarious and irresponsible activities are being exposed on a daily basis.”
Meanwhile, the governor ordered an investigation by the Public Procurement Agency, also known as the Office of Due Process, to determine the extent of his culpability in failing to remit bidding rights to the state treasury and rigging contracts in the last four years.
In a statement signed by his spokesperson and made available to sunday punch in Osogbo on Saturday, Adeleke also ordered the agency and other relevant government agencies to immediately begin the process of repossessing all outstanding bidding fees for contract awards and the Memorandum of Understanding that the state was a party to over the last four years.
