Earlier this week, most of the major
governorship candidates in Oyo state were hosted to a governorship
debate in Ibadan by Splash FM, a private radio sttion, in conjunction
with the Board of Directors of West Midlands Communication Limited.
One of the highlights of the debate was
the back and forth between the incumbent governor, Abiola Ajimobi, and
one of his predecessors, Rashidi Ladoja, over whether Ladoja refunded
N500m to the coffers of the state government through the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The governor, who is the APC flagbearer,
insisted that the money which was allegedly embezzled by Ladoja was
refunded to the state with Ladoja’s intention being to get a plea
bargain from the EFCC. Ladoja however, who represents Accord Party,
denied the allegation.
Other candidates who were present
include Seyi Makinde of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Teslim
Kolawole Folarin of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) .
The governor defended his records on
education and health. He said that over 81,000 teachers were trained and
their salary increased in three fold under his government. On health,
he said that he has done very well in primary and preventive health
care.
“We have treated close to one million people free of charge and introduced mobile emergency ambulances,” he said.
His opponents however attacked his
records. Ladoja and Folarin lamented the decline in educational
standards, saying that students even learn under trees and sit on the
floor due to lack of infrastructure. Ladoja claimed that during his
tenure as governor, there were not more than 30 students per class
saying the reverse is the case presently.
On his part, Seyi Makinde, said his
program will be hinged on poverty eradication and free education. He
added that as a governor his salary would go to teachers pension fund.
Makinde said: “I was not born by rich
parents, but the only thing given to me by my parents was education and
that has propelled me to the level I am today by the grace of God, out
of which I’m now offering myself to give back to the society”.
No comments:
Post a Comment