Ministerial Screening: Oyetola Appears Before Senate As PDP Senators Eulogise Him

Immediate past Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, on Friday, appeared before the Senate in continuation of the screening of ministerial nominees by the national legislative body.

Oyetola who was given the privilege to introduce himself revealed to the senators how he turned around the Osun economy at the time when N2.5 billion was being deducted at source from the Federal Allocation accruable to the State to settle the State’s indebtedness.

He said that despite the huge monthly deductions, the government under his leadership never owed workers’ salaries and pensions; and that he also provided other basic amenities like 332 Primary Health Centres, one per ward; and built roads and other infrastructure.

“I am the immediate past Governor of Osun State, where we served for four impactful years. We came in at a time when the state was almost insolvent. But God helped us to pull through and we were able to stabilise the economy of the state.

“Mr. President, Sir, Distinguished Senators, long before today, without any additional intervention from the Federal Government, we introduced the monthly Food Support Scheme for 30,000 vulnerable persons in Osun. We ran the programme until we left the office.

“We ran an inclusive and participatory model of governance. We embarked on an ambitious revitalisation agenda in the health sector as we are on record to have been the first in the Nigeria’s history to embark on the revitalisation of 332 Primary Healthcare Centres, one per ward, across the State at a go.

“Under our leadership in Osun, we won several awards for rare display of capacity to manage a State like Osun for onward of four years without borrowing, yet delivering the dividends of democracy. We constructed over 500km of roads, including roads that had been abandoned for close 30 years or more. We also reformed our mining sector, thereby setting a strong foundation for the diversification of the Osun economy,” Oyetola added.

The Senators from Osun, all of whom are of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, unanimously endorsed the nomination of the former governor, with Senator Francis Fadahunsi, representing Osun East, saying, “Adegboyega Oyetola is a democrat, a financial, insurance and management guru who brought to bear his private and public sectors experience on Osun and its poor financial standing.”

After two out of the three Senators spoke, the former governor was asked to take a bow and go.