$20m SOML fund under Oyetola utilised for Osun people — APC

Forum 16 hours ago

$20m SOML fund under Oyetola utilised for Osun people — APC

The Osun State All Progressives Congress, APC, has dismissed a petition by the Osun State government under Ademola Adeleke, which claims that former governor Gboyega Oyetola squandered World Bank health funds meant for the Save One Million Lives, SOML programme.

The party’s spokesperson, Mogaji Olabisi, made these remarks at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday.

This follows the Osun State government’s recent formal petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, requesting an investigation into the immediate past governor and current Minister of Blue Economy, Oyetola, over the alleged misappropriation of a $20 million World Bank health grant.

According to Olabisi, contrary to the claims in the petition, the SOML project was effectively executed to improve the health and well-being of the people of Osun.

“SOML is a World Bank project designed to save the lives of mothers and children through health services. The funds received by the Osun State government were comprehensively monitored by the donor.

“The details of how the Oyetola administration enhanced and expanded healthcare in Osun through the grant are well documented. We invite the media and the public to examine the records, which include pictures of facilities and programmes executed with the funds, to verify our claims about former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola’s commitment to good governance and transparency.

“Not only were the funds used to improve healthcare in the state, but all contract awards followed the relevant procurement laws. We boldly state that no commissioner, adviser, or appointee of former Governor Oyetola was awarded contracts while serving in his government,” he said.

“We challenge the state government, which is now on a witch-hunting mission, to publish the names of contractors and the dates of contract awards to substantiate their false narrative,” he stated.

The state APC also accused Adeleke’s government of allegedly awarding contracts to relatives and misappropriating billions of naira.

“N40 billion from the local government allocation was used to fund the Office of the Governor, including N11 billion to purchase luxury cars for unproductive politicians, and over N5 billion to renovate the governor’s lodges—a contract awarded to his son-in-law, who only visited three times to supervise the project from his base in the United States.

“All this while allocations to key sectors such as health, education, and sports remain insufficient and unavailable,” he said.