The Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke has issued a strong rebuke against the National Secretary of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Senator Ajibola Bashiru, over his recent remarks accusing the State Government of canceling the O-Meal program.
Osun Defender recalls that in a viral video, Senator Bashiru had claimed that Osun had scrapped the O-Meal initiative, which had previously been suspended by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.
However, in a statement on Saturday by his spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, Governor Adeleke expressed disappointment in the APC leader’s misleading comments, which he deemed politically motivated.
Governor Adeleke clarified that Osun remains the only state continuing with the program, a fact that was recently acknowledged by the federal government when the state received a merit prize from the Presidency for its ongoing implementation of the initiative.
Governor Adeleke pointed out that Senator Bashiru’s claims were far from accurate and questioned how the APC leader could have overlooked such a significant development.
“It is concerning that the APC National Secretary was not aware of such a widely televised report and public recognition,” Governor Adeleke stated.
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According to the statement, “The National Secretary of the All Progressive Congress(APC), Senator Ajibola Bashiru is either not abreast of national news or simply being mischievous when he accused the state government of canceling O-Meal.
“Spokesperson to Governor Ademola Adeleke, Mallam Olawale Rasheed who made the assertion in response to a viral video of the APC Chieftain said Osun state was recently awarded merit prize by the Presidency for being the only state running the O-Meal programme after suspension by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.
“The Senior Special Assistant to Mr President indeed came to Osun to convey the recognition. Osun was then selected by the Federal Government for a pilot study on O-meal, a study conducted by a UK based Consultant.
“How come the National Secretary missed that widely televised report? Is the former Senator also not aware that the current government has just concluded an interview for merit based recruitment of teachers? Has he also not read how over 2000 teachers got approved for continuous service to also fill up the manpower shortage?
“For the party scribe information, the replacement for O-Yes is Imole Youth Corps. The uniforms for the soon to be unveiled Corps are currently being produced by Osun tailors associations.
“We cannot be playing politics with everything as for now, Governor Adeleke has outperformed even those who spent four years in office under less than two years. The political class must mature to a stage to acknowledge the good work of the incumbent irrespective of political affiliations.
“Recently, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations ranked His Excellency amongst the Top Nine Performing Governors in Nigeria under its Reputation Perception index Governance Report. The rating by NIPR indicated that Governor Adeleke secured the high ratings because of his visionary and tremendous strides in transforming the state since assuming office through implementation of various initiatives aimed at improving infrastructure, education, healthcare, tourism, and youth development.
“I hope the APC scribe is aware of this. If not, he should google it alongside that of Champion and Vanguard infrastructure award for the Governor.”
