From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
Chief Press Secretary to the former Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, Ismail Omipidan, has challenged Governor Ademola Adeleke to provide evidence to back up the claim that his projects complied with procurement law.
Omipidan in a statement on Thursday maintained that the government of Adeleke will never provide any evidence of due process because the government was founded on “dubious and fraudulent” claims.
Reacting to the release by the Information Commissioner, Hon. Kolapo Alimi, that Omipidan lied when he said the government misled Sahara Reporters to publish a false story that Oyetola allegedly violated procurement law, Oyetola’s spokesman insisted that the government should have stated how it came about the data on the portal on its procurement website to counter his claim rather than just say he lied without any iota proof.
“For a government which claimed more than a year ago that it had compiled all the alleged infractions committed by the Oyetola’s administration, especially in the award of contracts, to now say it needed two weeks to respond to an inquiry from a news medium to confirm the data input by its agents, shows that the government is either mischievous or unserious or both.
“I challenge the government to show proof that my Principal, His Excellency, Adegboyega Oyetola, indeed awarded the contract thrice. No response. I stated that you cleverly side-stepped the original procurement portal’s website and migrated data from it into yours to suit your wicked narrative to mislead unsuspecting members of the public, including the Sahara Reporters. No response. Instead, you said I lied. Where is the lie, when you are unable to puncture my claims with hard facts? Did you create a new procurement website or not? Did you migrate data from our own to yours or not? Was the data you imputed there on July 15, which was the basis of Sahara Reporters’ story different from what was there on July 16 or not?
“These are the issues I expected Hon. Alimi, who has become a mess cleaner of the Adeleke’s administration and Dynasty, to respond to, not ranting and calling me a liar without evidence to controvert my claims.
“On your challenge to me to provide proof that your government violated procurement law which you and the governor’s spokesman admitted, I am glad you had no defence to offer on behalf of my colleague and brother, Mr. Olawale Rasheed.
“However, in case he also wants to deny, let me refresh his memory. The interview was conducted by Mr. Femi Olanipekun on Rave’s Frank Talk when he was trying to defend the boreholes contract award. As for Alimi, the government’s spokesperson, it was Mr. Daniel who conducted the interview.
“The only reason I will not upload the clip now is that I have noticed you guys have mastered the act of cleaning up your mess from the Internet. Therefore, at the appropriate time, you will see them. The picture attached which was the advert the government published on 25/09/23, indicated that there was an earlier advert, calling for bidding for that road project and that it was only extended through the September advert.
Apart from the fact that there was no evidence of the earlier advert being referred to, everyone knows that the project started long before September when the advert was published. Isn’t that a clear violation of procurement law? That was the basis upon which you admitted the government had perfected the process,” Omipidan said.