I Blocked Godfathers From Milking Osun Funds – Adeleke
The governor also reeled out his achievements within the last two years in office as Osun leader.
In this exclusive interview on Channels Television’s Political Paradigm, Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, bares his experience in office for the past two years.
Enjoy the excerpts:
It’s been 2 years. I hear people talk about you being one of those governors that no one really gave a chance. Many don’t have expectations of you as well, and you’re looking younger. I’m trying to understand if you’re really stressed or governance is easy for you.
Two years with a lot of challenges. I was cheated in 2018. Everyone knew that I won that election but that one is over now. I went back to prepare more, and I believe in God. Then God said that my time will come and it was a street victory. It is not easy to defeat an incumbent in Africa, especially in Nigeria here. But I did, there’s nothing they could do about it. I see that as God telling me that it’s my time. A lot of people did not give me a chance because when I was a senator, they called me ‘dancing senator’, that oh, I will just go to the Government House. All I’ll be doing is to be partying. I mean, dancing every day, having parties and everything.
Well, I didn’t listen to them because I know what I’m going to do. I laid out my blueprints silently and immediately I was sworn in, I began with action.
It was challenging at first. I first went around. I’m not a governor that sits around the office in the air conditioner. I put on my sneakers, my cap, and go around and inspect projects so that the contractors will know that I mean business.
There were a lot of abandoned projects, including the Government House. The Government House was looted. They were so upset that I defeated them, so they looted the Government House, which when we came in, we did the video and showed the whole world. This is democracy. If Osun people decide that they don’t want you when you have done your own, then bow out and appreciate the opportunity they have given you. They looted the whole place; it took me one year to move into the Government House.
So you didn’t try to recover the stolen properties?
No, because if you try to do that, you will be wasting your time. I did not even probe anybody and the money they owed was crazy. I showed it to everyone, I even called all the obas (kings) that this is what I met on the ground. Osun State, with our little resources, owed close to N60 billion, apart from others that we discovered later. Why do I need to waste my time to start probing? So I just forgot about that and went straight to work.
In the last two years, what project(s) are you very proud that you’ve been able to complete?
Infrastructure is very important. I’m not doing the ones that people will see. I go inside villages and everything because our people are mostly farmers. And if they don’t have good roads, how are they going bring their goods to town? So that’s the first agenda. I made sure that I fit in the infrastructure, the roads and even bridges that I’m doing at the same time. The first plan that I had was N100 billion infrastructure plan but people believe that we’re just going to turn Osun State into the construction site and won’t be able to meet up. But guess what, two years, I met the target. If you come to Osogbo now, to other cities, I’ve done about 150 kilometres. As I’m doing it, I’m putting lights on the streetlight. When you come at night, it’s so beautiful. Everywhere you go, at least you have road construction. Every little town, we have at least 1.5 kilometres of roads, so you cannot say I did not touch anywhere.
That makes me happy that I’m fixing the roads, fixing bridges in Osogbo. I am fixing bridges, fixing roads. In Ilesha, they’ve never had it so good.
I’m curious how you were able to do this because you talked about the amount of debt, N60 billion.
I am paying it and it is reducing.
Where are you making the money from?
From taxes, from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). So we improved it, we changed the system. I blocked all the leakages to the extent that no godfather can take advantage of the system. Where it’s not necessary to spend money, I block it. I am a very prudent administrator. I check it myself, that is why I am successful. I didn’t owe anybody any favours because nobody financed my campaign.
Are you now making money from mining?
That is part of it. They abandoned it before now but I have restarted it and we are now making money from mining. Now we have licence, a shareholder license. It has never happened before. I’m going call the Minister of Solid Mineral Resources, Dele Alake, so that I can go and pick up the licence. That’s another way to make money. For security votes, I don’t touch it. I left it there.
You don’t collect security vote or you collect but don’t touch it?
I don’t collect, it’s there. I use it like every month, whatever security challenge that we have.
