The Oyo State government has described allegation that it was planning to empty the treasury, as unfounded and mischievous.
Last week, spokesman of the governor-elect, Seyi Makinde, had raised concern over alleged huge withdrawals of the Governor Abiola Ajimobi-led government after his preferred candidate was defeated at the governorship poll.
But, government in its reaction said Makinde’s allegation was far from the truth.
Commissioner for Information Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun, while describing the allegation as false and bears no iota of truth, maintained that Ajimobi since 2011 has been running the affairs of the state in a transparent manner.
“Ordinarily, government should ignore the antics of the spokesperson of the governor-elect in the state since the path of calumny is one in which he treads with absolute familiarity.
“The Oyo State government, therefore, for the umpteenth time wishes to implore members of the public to ignore the inflammatory statements of the serial propangadist. We refuse to trade words with him any further.
“For the avoidance of doubt, however, we hereby state unequivocally that the accusations are not only patently false but are figments of his imagination.
The state government’s earlier statement on a related matter on the siphoning of funds subsists. Meanwhile, let it be reiterated that the mandate of the Ajimobi administration will not lapse until the 28th of May 2019. Therefore, no amount of sabre-rattling will cause the government to fold its hands counting days instead of making the remainder of its days count.”
Last week, Makinde, the governor-elect on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), had alleged that money were ferried from government coffers at an alarming rate in 72 hours since the announcement of the result of the gubernatorial election.
Makinde, in a statement by his Media Aide, Prince Dotun Oyelade, said credible sources within government revealed that non-visible contracts, especially, are being used as guises to cart away millions from government with the connivance of a few civil servants.
He claimed that while he did not want a time wasting holistic probe as he had promised during his campaign, he will set a dateline upon all contracts awarded and payments made under suspicious circumstances in the dying days of the current administration.