As if the problems he has with key figures in Oyo State are not enough, Governor Alao-Akala hoodwinks President Jonathan into commissioning an uncompleted road project during his recent visit to the state

On Thursday, 3 June when President Goodluck Jonathan visited Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, he commissioned some road projects. They were: the dualised 4.57km Queens Cinema-Dugbe-Oke Ado-Molete road contracted to CCC and the dual-carriage 12km Challenge-Odo Ona Elewe-Apata road, handled by Kopek Construction Company, Ibadan. The first road was awarded to CCC in October 2008 at N2 billion, while the second went to Kopek in May 2010 at N4.4 billion. They were the two major achievements showcased by Governor Alao-Akala to mark his 60th birthday.

From the airport in Ibadan, President Jonathan and his entourage moved straight to Orita-Challenge area of the city to commission the first phase of the Odo-Ona Elewe-Apata road. The President praised  the Governor for a job well done while commissioning the project. Though the portion shown the President was enough to convince him of the Governor’s success, if he had gone a few dozens of metres down the road from the point of the commissioning, the farce in the scheme would have been exposed. The completed part is smooth, but it represents only a fraction of the entire project which has been left untouched several weeks after the President left the city.

Shortly after the departure of the President, however, it was discovered that he was made to commission an uncompleted project. This magazine found out that only 6.5km out of the 12km Odo-Ona Elewe-Apata road had been completed. The completed part, tagged phase one, was awarded for N1.7bn and terminates at the Alasepe Bus Stop around Oluode area of the city. The remaining 5.5km portion, which is expected to terminate at Bembo area of Apata, was awarded last January at N2.7bn.

Though the government said that the contracting firm is working day and night to quickly complete the road, visits to the site revealed that construction work stopped shortly before commissioning and no sign of resumption was visible. The construction equipment have been dumped by the road sides. Worse, the uncompleted portion of the road is being eroded by flood, creating gullies which are giving motorists problems.

Residents of the area expressed disappointment over abandonment of the project and appealed to the government to ensure that the road is completed as soon as possible. Mrs. Motunrayo Alao, a petty trader and a corn seller simply identified as Iya Ibeji, both living at Aba-Olo, said the road should have been completed before inviting the President for the commissioning. They expressed disappointment that the state government deceived the President to commission an uncompleted project.

Motunrayo who noted that completion of the road would accelerate development in the area, complained that its abandonment has led to the suffering of residents because commercial vehicles loathe to ply the untarred portion. She said: “After the President commissioned completed part, those constructing the road have not turned up to continue with the portions they had not done. Their machines and other equipment are parked somewhere there. The problem this is causing us is that when you board a bus or taxi from Orita-Challenge, they will stop where the tarred road stops and we are forced to either trek to our houses or take a motorbike. Help us beg the government to come and finish the road for the benefit of all of us.”

She argued that the state of the road has rubbished the aim of decongesting Apata-Challenge road, as vehicles going to or coming from Apata cannot pass through the road and bypass Challenge-Ring Road. The magazine also discovered that the durability of the completed part of the road cannot be guaranteed. Some parts of it are already cracking, giving the impression that sooner than expected, potholes would begin to emerge. Also, the site engineer,  Mr. Pascal Harfoush, disclosed to this magazine that if heavy duty vehicles are not prevented from plying the road frequently, it would not last.

The dualisation of the 7.7km Iwo Road interchange, constructed by ARESCO Construction between April 2007 and June 2009 at N1.4bn, already requires maintenance as it is characterised by potholes. Apart from some patches carried out here and there on the road after the construction, most of the street lights are no longer functioning.

Against these shortcomings, however, Akala’s men argued that the incumbent government has constructed and rehabilitated over 600 kilometres of roads, spread across the three senatorial districts of the state. About 20.5km of the projects have been done in Ibadan as at the time of filing this report.

Apart from nursing anxiety over what the reaction of Aso Rock would be over this deception, Akala has a lot to lose sleep over in the state. His biggest worry, however, is how he would overcome the obstacles to his quest for a second term, especially in a state that is noted for the inability of governors to get re-elected. Incidentally, the problems are emanating from Peoples Democratic Party, to which he belongs, especially indigenes of Ibadan, who are virulently opposed to his candidature.

The opposition from Ibadan is spearheaded by Akala’s predecessor in office, Rashidi Ladoja, who is intent on staging a comeback. Others working against him include Senator Lekan Balogun, Elder Wole Oyelese, Alhaji Yekini Adeojo and Senator Teslim Folarin.

To thwart Akala’s ambition, the opposition is lobbying the party’s National Working Committee to implement the recommendations of the Ike Nwachukwu team that the leadership of PDP in the state be dissolved and  replaced by a Caretaker Committee, headed by Yinus Akintunde, which would conduct fresh congresses at the ward, local government and state levels in order to produce a new party leadership. The new helmsmen will then organise primaries for aspirants to the various political offices and as well register those that had been deregistered by the party in the state.

According to the opposition, the incumbent leadership of the party is illegal. Akala’s critics base their argument on a letter purportedly written to the party’s National Secretariat claiming that congresses did not take place in the state in 2006, and affirming that the leadership of the party at all levels, especially at the state level, was imposed by the late Chief Lamidi Adedibu. If the opposition succeeds, Akala will find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get the party’s ticket to contest the forthcoming election as his supporters would be outnumbered.

But the Governor is fighting hard to frustrate them. He insists that the current leadership of the party is legally constituted and its tenure cannot be terminated until 2013. The leadership is made up of his loyalists who would ensure that he gets the party ticket to contest for a second term.

Already, he has succeeded in penetrating the ranks of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes, CCII, wooing to his side some of its prominent leaders, including former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Richard Akinjide and former governor of the state, Dr. Omololu Olunloyo. He also employed the former secretary of the council, Gbade Ishola, as his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs.

Akala is also alleged to have sponsored four of his loyalists––Ikiru Ikuogbogun, Niyi Akande, Ojo Bolaji and Rufai Adetomiwa Memudu––to file a suit restraining the national body of PDP from dissolving the state executive. The suit is pending before Justice O. A. Boade of the state High Court, Ring Road, Ibadan. However, Akala in an interview with the magazine said that, should he fail to maintain the status quo, he plans to hold on tenaciously to the party structure in the three senatorial districts of the state.

Another big headache for Akala are the state civil servants who are at loggerheads with the state government over their welfare package. As at the time of filing this report, teachers under the umbrella of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, Oyo State chapter and judicial workers under the aegis of Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria, JSUN, had embarked on indefinite strike. While teachers are asking for 27.5 per cent pay increase as agreed to by all the states of the federation––but which Oyo, Abia and Rivers states have refused to implement––judicial workers are demanding enhanced allowance, scheme of service, unified salary structure, and the establishment of a Negotiation Council and Pension Board.

Though Akala has adopted various means to appeal to the striking workers, both unions have ignored him. To worsen matters, medical and dental officers in the state are threatening an indefinite strike, beginning from 27 July, if the newly approved Consolidated Medical Salary Scale, CONMESS, is not implemented.

In an open letter, signed by the Chairman of the Association of Medical and Dental Officers of Oyo State, AMDO, Dr Jeremiah Simire, the Vice-Chairman, Dr Fola Oni and four others, the association rejected the current tax system imposed on them by the state government and demanded a review. They further demanded immediate employment of about 100 doctors to complement those in service.

Again, Akala has been engaged in a running battle with the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade 1 since assuming office. The fact that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and his wife recently visited the state on separate occasions and neither of them paid a courtesy call on the Olubadan has been attributed to the frosty relationship between Akala and the monarch. And when Alao-Akala recently visited the palace, the Olubadan refused him audience.

Another source of worry to the embattled Governor is the fact that prominent indigenes of the state, including the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III; a former governor of the state, Alhaji Lam Adesina; Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin; Action Congress 2011 governorship aspirant, Chief Femi Lanlehin; Senator Lekan Balogun and 2007 All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP, gubernatorial candidate, Senator Abiola Ajimobi have accused him of plotting their assassination. Though Akala has refuted the allegations, those concerned insist he wants to eliminate them.

To compound the administration’s problems, the recent launch of a full scale investigation into the alleged looting of N9bn belonging to the 33 local governments of the state by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is putting a lot of pressure on the Governor. According to the anti-graft agency, the state government illegally withdrew N8.2bn from the Excess Crude Funds of local governments and directly deducted N250mn from the account of each local government to construct 5km of road in each local government area at the cost of N50mn per kilometre.

During investigations, the EFCC stumbled on a document with the sub-head, “Funds for Some Justices,” which revealed that the sum of N495 million was allocated to justices of the Appeal Court that presided over a case that has to do with local governments in the state. Each council contributed N15mn to make up the N495million allegedly used in bribing the justices. But it was learnt that the judges denied being compromised by the state government. A source said there was no evidence that any money was paid to any judge, adding that the money might have been laundered by some officials in the state who decided to take advantage of a civil case in court.

To crown the Governor’s woes, some concerned residents are calling for the declaration of a state of emergency to correct the anomalies in the state. Championing this call is Senator Lekan Balogun, who expressed deep concern that if such drastic step is not taken, the state might be heading for total collapse. In a swift reaction, however, the state PDP Director, Media and Strategy, Morohunkola Thomas, described the call as unpatriotic and treasonable.

An attempt by Akala to disengage Osun State from joint ownership of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH against popular opinion is another major crisis rocking the boat of the administration in Oyo State. It has also destroyed relations between the two states. Though there have been strong pleas by notable Nigerians and indigenes of the state, Akala has vowed that he would employ all measures to disengage Osun from LAUTECH ownership. Already he has unilaterally sacked Professor Babatunde Adeleke as its vice-chancellor and replaced him with  Professor Lanrewaju Nassir, an Oyo State indigene and former rector of The Polytechnic, Ibadan.

—Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan