Oyo APC Demands Makinde Explain N50bn Bodija Relief Fund Or Resign
The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on Governor Seyi Makinde to clarify how he allegedly utilised a N50 billion relief fund from President Bola Tinubu following the January 2024 explosion in Bodija Government Reserved Area, Ibadan, or step down from office.
The demand followed claims by former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, who stated in a live interview on a Lagos-based private television station that Makinde received the fund during a visit to President Tinubu to brief him on the incident.
Fayose alleged that the governor neither publicly acknowledged the payment nor used it to provide relief to victims who lost their lives and property in the explosion.
In a statement on Sunday, APC Oyo State Publicity Secretary Olawale Sadare criticised Makinde, accusing him of failing to account for the fund and also rebuking his recent remarks against President Tinubu and Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu.
Makinde had reportedly said he declined a presidential request to help organise the APC in Oyo State and claimed the Minister of Power lacked the capacity to deliver.
Sadare described Makinde as “the new face of sleaze” since assuming office in 2019, alleging he reviewed existing government contracts and inflated their costs.
On the Bodija relief fund, the APC spokesman said Makinde had claimed to have spent N4.5 billion on victims without providing detailed records of beneficiaries or disbursements.
“Now that his close friend and fellow party man has disclosed that a whopping N50 billion was actually paid into the coffers of the Oyo State government as a Relief Fund by the federal government, Gov. Makinde should realise that a flippant reaction by his media aide is insufficient. The whole world needs to know what he did with the money,” he said.
Sadare also dismissed Makinde’s claim about reorganising the APC in Oyo, insisting the party never required such intervention and describing the governor as a beneficiary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform for two consecutive terms.
He added that prospective governorship aspirants in the APC had greater capacity to govern the state than Makinde, whom he accused of implementing “window dressing” policies that inflicted hardship on residents and property owners.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
