Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Oyo Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism in the state, Wasiu Olatubosun, has alleged that the Federal Government intentionally neglected the state the allocation of special funds and resources to prevent, control and manage COVID-19 in the state.
Olatubosun, who raised the alarm when he received an award of excellence on behalf of Governor Seyi Makinde, presented by the Abuja branch of the Music Advertisement Association of Nigeria at his office in Ibadan, yesterday, said the Federal Capital Territory, as well as Lagos, Ogun and some other states in the country, have been given preferential treatment, allegedly because they belong to the APC folds.
The commissioner, who stated that Makinde-led administration has procured over 10 ambulances for the state health facilities, apart from other state-of-the-art equipment that have been distributed to the hospitals in preparation for COVID-19, alleged: “It is very disturbing when you realise that the Federal Government disbursed a lot of money and resources to Lagos, Ogun, Abuja and some other states while Oyo is being neglected, party solidarity should not have come into an important issue like intervention to states on a pandemic like this, it is wrong.
“Oyo State has been doing it all alone, the testing kits given to the state were too small that it had no significance in the fight against COVID-19. Thank God for the resourcefulness of Governor Makinde for looking inward and finding other means of funding.”
Meanwhile, Chairman, Oyo State Community and Social Development Agency (OYCSDA), Babatunde Eesuola, said government has approved N72 million as counterpart fund for the agency to access a World Bank intervention fund on COVID-19 Action Response and Economic Stimulus (CARES) for empowerment project, expected to kick off in January 2021.
He made the disclosure during an impact assessment and evaluation tour to some of the project sites in different councils of the state.