Ondo: Group accuses Aregbesola of financing Oke's election

A youths group, Osun Youths Movement, has accused Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State of bankrolling the election expenses of the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy in Ondo State, Olusola Oke, for the November 26 governorship poll.
In a statement in Osogbo by the Coordinator of the group, Yusuf Olaosebikan, the group accused Aregbesola of diverting the meagre resources of the state “to feather his expansionist political agenda” in other states while the state’s workers suffer from months of unpaid salaries.
The group said physical infrastructure has also collapsed in Osun State “because of lack of focus and reckless ambition” by the governor.
The group warned the Federal Government against granting further bailout to the state until Aregbesola was able to explain how he spent the earlier cash meant for the settlement of several months of unpaid salaries.
It said: “It is heart-warming that the Senate Committee of Local Government is set to investigate Governor Aregbesola on how he spent the last bail-out meant for salary payment, which the governor failed to comply with.
“We alerted Osun people then that we had information that the governor was more concerned about his political fortunes than the welfare of Osun people, particularly the civil servants.
“Aregbesola started his expansionist idea when he started funding Mr Ayodele Fayose’s election with the state’s fund in 2014 to cause the defeat of his own party, APC, in Ekiti State.
“After succeeding in helping Fayose, Nigerians can now see that their friendship has blossomed with Aregbe holding secret meetings with Fayose and at present extending his tentacles to Ondo State, and this time around too, helping another party, AD, to defeat his own party to consolidate on his plans for a new party where he can wield enough influence.”
Warning against starving millions of Osun State residents to advance personal political ambition, the group threatened to make the state ungovernable for the governor if he continued spending the state’s money to fund elections in other states.
It said: “We can no longer continue to watch the governor spending our scarce resources to recklessly finance the elections of his political associates in other states in pursuit of personal ambition.
“Monday hiring of more than 300 buses in Osogbo and environs to ferry hired people to Ondo State for Olusola Oke’s campaign rally will no longer be tolerated because the governor cannot be pursuing his personal political ambition while our people suffer.”