The opposition All Progressives Congress in Osun State has alleged that Governor Ademola Adeleke travelled abroad ahead of the first anniversary of his administration today to avoid giving an account of his stewardship.

The Osun APC, in a statement on Sunday by its Chairman, Mr Tajudeen Lawal, alleged that Adeleke had run the state aground since taking the mantle of leadership on November 27, 2022.

The APC leader accused the governor of lying about his whereabouts following claims by the governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, that Adeleke had gone on working vacation to Europe and Asia.

According to Lawal, Adeleke fled abroad because he was afraid of facing the people after he mismanaged the revenue accrued to the state in the last year.

The opposition party said, “No one can begrudge another for falling sick or nursing an ailment as such is beyond the control of any human being but God Almighty, but it behooves those who are holding the people’s mandate in trust to always tell the truth and stand by the truth.

“We know very well that Governor Adeleke has absconded from the state so he would not be able to give due account of his stewardship to the people of the state.

“Since November 2022 when he came on board, Governor Adeleke has run the state aground with his sheer incompetence, lack of proper education and zero administrative acumen. He is afraid to disclose to the Osun people how he has mismanaged over N130bn revenue accrued to his government in the last year.

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“He is afraid to tell them how he has allocated in the supplementary budget over N10 billion for his food, entertainment and office use while the parents of UNIOSUN students are struggling to pay increased school fees his regime forced on them to pay.”

But Adeleke, in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Rasheed, declared that his administration surpassed the annual good governance target it set while assuming office.

The governor said, “When I assumed office, we had benchmarks and deliverables according to each sector. Our team sets milestones to achieve in health, education, infrastructures, ICT, agriculture, youth, and women, among others. I looked back and I can tell you we performed beyond our plans.

“The opposition APC is still nursing the wound of their electoral defeat. So, the party is ashamed to see the positive changes we are recording in the state. Our achievements are there for all to see.”

Giving a further account of his stewardship, Adeleke said, “In the road sector, we reconstructed a total of 90 kilometres of roads with another 45 kilometers ongoing. We completed key intercity roads like the Ikirun-Osogbo Road while the Iwo-Osogbo Road is ongoing. We completely rehabilitated 31 schools with another 31 in the pipeline. We built 332 water projects while major water works at Iwo, Ede, Osogbo, and Eko are under rehabilitation.

“We focused on the health sector through the Imole Medical Outreach, which provides immediate surgeries with over 50,000 beneficiaries so far. We address the welfare needs of doctors and we have selected 345 health centres in the state for complete rehabilitation.

“In science and technology, we introduced a digital economy agenda with new ICT and tech innovations policies. We developed a bill to domesticate the Nigeria Startup Act and launched programmes to deepen internet penetration of the state through broadband fiber optic projects.

“I reformed the public service by ensuring professionalism. I launched a phased payment of inherited pension and half salary debt. I just enrolled all pensioners in the health insurance scheme. We have done a lot in just under one year.”