OSOGBO – The Civil Societies Coalition for Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS) has expressed dissatisfaction over the spending of whopping N140million by the state government on the 25th anniversary celebration of the state.
According to the civil group, expending such a huge amount of money to mark the carving out of Osun out of old Oyo state at a time when indigenes of the state are facing economic hardship is unreasonable and unacceptable.
In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by the CSCEOS’ Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, the group said all indications showed that the money was meant to be shared by the cronies of the state governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola.
It stated that Aregbesola has turned all events in the state into conduit pipes where Osun meager resources were being siphoned into private purses of individuals while saying that the governor embarked on this frivolous celebration with such huge amount of money without feeling the plights of the state indigenes.
“Such a celebration should not cost more than N10 million when the state as part of the federating unit of the country is facing economic recess. But to spending N140m is sheer wasteful!”, the statement read.
The civil group challenged the state government under Aregbesola’s watch to come out from its shell and tell the public what such amount would be spent on during the purported anniversary which was slated to hold on Saturday, 27th of August, 2016.
It further alleged that Aregbesola has been insensitive to the plights of the good people of the state since November 26th ,2010 when he came to power in the state, insisting that the state government released such gargantuan amount of money for just ordinary celebration when the state workers and retirees were wallowing in abject poverty and dying as a result of non-payment of workers’ salaries and pension due to state workforce and retirees alike for period of seven to eight months respectively.
According to the statement, “The release of the sum of N140 million for the purpose of marking this event is something call for concern of the well-meaning people of the state when thousands of workers and pensioners and by extension, millions of citizens are wallowing in hunger and misery due to the non-payment of their bread winners their legitimate salaries and pension due for the period of seven to eight months.
“There is nothing to celebrate by Aregbesola’s government because the government has been the source of sorrow to the people of the State in almost six years now, which they are praying fervently for its winding up.
We insist that this is another tactics being employed by Aregbesola and his cronies to siphon the meager resources of the State under the guise of anniversary celebration when the same government is claiming that the purse of government is lean financially as a result of huge debt on the neck of the State, but who is fooling who?
“The essence of government is to make life better for the masses but Aregbesola has dashed the hope of Osun people and we cannot keep quiet in the face of tyrannical Aregbesola so as not to be guilty of complicity”, he stated.
CSECO however called on the anti-graft body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate this financial crimes of Aregbesola under the guise of marking the twenty-five years of creation of the state.
