Urban Alert Accuses Osun Govt Of Withholding 332 Borehole Records Despite FOI Request
- Says Development Suspicious
A civic accountability organisation, Urban Alert, has condemned the Osun State Government’s ‘failure’ to disclose details of the 332 boreholes it claims to have delivered between 2023 and 2024, across all the political wards in the state, more than two months after the legal deadline to respond expired.
The group, in a statement by its Communications Associate, Titilade Alayande, a copy obtained by OSUN DEFENDER on Friday, said it filed Freedom of Information requests to the Ministry of Water Resources and the Osun State Public Procurement Agency on April 27, 2026.
Under Section 4 of the FOI Act, 2011, public institutions are required to release requested information within seven days.
The statement stated that the window of reply closed weeks ago, with no single document released by the state government.
Providing details of its requests, Urban Alert said it asked for the location, Local Government Area, Ward, GPS coordinates, contractor, commissioning date, and current status of each borehole.
It also asked for the total budgetary allocation under the 2023 and 2024 Appropriation Laws, records of independent technical inspections, and details of community water committees meant to maintain the projects.
“This is the ordinary paper trail of a functioning water infrastructure programme, and its absence tells its own story,” the group stated.
The organisation said it first met officials who gave clear assurances that the records would be collated and transmitted within a reasonable period.
“Reminder letters were delivered, telephone calls and follow-up messages were made to both offices in the weeks that followed, but none of these engagements has produced a single sheet of paper, despite the assurances given during face-to-face preliminary visit,” the statement said.
Urban Alert argued that when a government announces 332 boreholes but cannot name the communities or contractors, “the announcement itself becomes suspect.”
The organisation demanded that the government release the full list of the 332 boreholes with the requested details.
It also called on the government to “publish budget and procurement records for all contractors; disclose inspection and handover documents, or confirm if none exist and cite specific FOI exemptions if any information is being withheld.”
Urban Alert said, with support from the Public and Private Development Centre, PPDC, it has begun documenting boreholes on the ground and will publish findings community by community, ward by ward, in the coming weeks.
Efforts to reach the Ministry of Water Resources and the Public Procurement Agency for comment were unsuccessful as of press time.
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
