- Says Oyetola Failed To Access UBEC Grants For 3 Years
In a shocking revelation, Chairman of Osun State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Hon. Ibukun Fadipe, has stated that the 33 tractors procured by Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration are not safe at the State Secretariat, Abeere.
Fadipe who spoke on a radio programme, ‘Agbami Oselu’ aired on Fresh FM Osogbo, on Sunday, said the tractors were kept somewhere as the government cannot guarantee their safety if kept at the secretariat.
The SUBEB chairman while reacting to insinuations that the state government procured only nine tractors said thirty-three have been delivered, with the rest to be delivered in coming weeks.
His words, “Contrary to the rumours peddled around that Osun State Government only procured nine tractors and that others are audio. That is far from the truth. Thirty-three tractors have been brought to the state out of seventy-two and they are somewhere.
“We do not know what may happen to them if we bring it to the secretariat. They are just assembling others where we bought it. It will be here in a few weeks.”
READ: Osun Third Highest With Cost Of Healthy Diet In Nigeria
Fadipe also berated former governor Adegboyega Oyetola over his failure to provide counterpart funding to access grants provided to Osun by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for three years (2019-2022) which is N1.2 billion annually.
According to him, Oyetola’s inability to get the grants is a sign that he did not give premium attention to education in the state, saying all the outstanding grants have been processed by Governor Adeleke.
He maintained that the grants are used in reconstruction and renovation of 253 schools. Also for the training of teachers, sports and farming activities in schools.
“It is sad that former governor Adegboyega Oyetola could not access the UBEC fund for three years because he did not want to provide the counterpart funding.
“This shows he did not give education adequate attention to education during his administration.
“Oyetola abandoned Osun school children for two years because he could not provide counterpart funding to federal government to pay the grant to us.
“When we assumed office, Governor Adeleke released the counterpart funding to access the outstanding grants. We received N1.2bn each for the three years that Oyetola did not access and we have done a lot of capital projects from the money.
“We renovated and built about 253 school buildings including toilets. The money is also used in organising sports competitions across schools, teacher trainings and farming in our schools.
“For those saying we have received over N4 billion from the grants, I want to say all projects done with the money are been monitored from Abuja every three months. So, nobody can embezzle the money,” Fadipe noted.
Yusuf Oketola is a trained journalist with over five years of experience in the media industry. He has worked for both print and online medium. He is a thorough-bred professional with an eye of hindsight on issues bothering on social justice, purposeful leadership, and a society where the leaders charge and work for the prosperity of the people.
