The Oyo State chapter of the African Democratic Congress has asked Governor Seyi Makinde to publicly account for the intervention funds requested from the Federal Government after the January 2024 Bodija explosion in Ibadan.
The party made the demand on Sunday in a statement signed by its State Publicity Secretary, Bimpe Adelowo. It accused the state government of lacking transparency in the handling of funds meant for victims of the deadly explosion.
The call followed claims by former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, that the Oyo State Government requested N50 billion from the Federal Government for reconstruction and compensation after the incident. While Governor Makinde’s aides later clarified that only N30 billion was eventually received, the ADC said the public was not properly informed until the issue became public.
According to the party, there are unanswered questions about how the intervention funds were used.
“Oyo State governor claimed he had disbursed about N4.5 billion directly to the victims of the Bodija explosion but failed to account for the balance of N25.5 billion,” Adelowo said.
The party questioned whether the remaining funds were approved by the Oyo State House of Assembly for other purposes or quietly diverted to unrelated projects.
“It is safe to say that the entire disbursed N30 billion was misappropriated and unlawfully diverted to projects which were not the purpose the money was disbursed for in the first place,” the statement added.
While acknowledging that the document referenced by Fayose showed a request and not proof of disbursement, the ADC argued that the governor’s failure to openly disclose the N50 billion request earlier raised concerns.
The party urged Governor Makinde to release a detailed breakdown of how the N30 billion intervention fund was spent.
“He should own up and apologise to the people of Oyo for taking them for a ride. He should release the details of the disbursed N30 billion intervention funds for public scrutiny; after all, he holds the power in trust for them, and they deserve to know,” Adelowo said.
The Bodija explosion, which occurred on January 16, 2024, claimed several lives and destroyed properties worth billions of naira. The ADC insisted that any federal intervention funds tied to the tragedy must be managed with the highest level of accountability.
Reacting earlier to the allegations, the Oyo State Government maintained that it did not receive N50 billion from the Federal Government.
Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, dismissed Fayose’s claim as false.
“The Federal Government did not give Governor Makinde N50 billion. This is why Fayose was unable to provide evidence. In fact, the memo he shared shows what was not disbursed,” Olanrewaju said.
He described the allegation that the governor withheld funds for personal political ambition as “misleading and deliberately disingenuous.”
