The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday has expressed discontentment on Governor Seyi Makinde for criticising President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the removal of fuel subsidy.
The state chapter of the APC who made this known in a statement issued by Wasiu Olawale Sadare, its Publicity Secretary said Makinde is the sole governor who has criticised Tinubu for eliminating the PMS subsidy.
Sadare, however, claimed that Makinde had never, for the record, criticised former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking further, Sadare noted that Makinde tried to use Tuesday’s labour protest as an opportunity to place the whole blame for the nation’s struggling economy on the federal government
Instead of placing the blame on Tinubu, he asked the governor to address the issues the state is facing.
Sadare said, “Makinde has grown more wings in his penchant for misleading the public and sacrificing others for his ineptitude in government.
“Funny enough, the PDP-dominated State House of Assembly spoke in the same tone on the same day, and we understand the script being played by the governor.
“Gov. Makinde holds the record of the only governor in Nigeria who constantly blames the sitting President for his failure to add value in his state. Out of the 36 governors, the Oyo State helmsman was the only one who criticized President Bola Tinubu over the removal of fuel subsidy when he stated that the decision was untimely and not well thought out.
“This was what he did to former President Muhammadu Buhari between 2019 and 2023 as he distanced himself from Aso Villa on account of ego and thereby denied the Pacesetter state a lot of opportunities for four years.
“As he is wont to do, Makinde attempted to take advantage of the labor protest on Tuesday to heap all the blame for the bad economy in the country on the federal government, forgetting that governors like him were more culpable for the extent to which the quality of life has degenerated.
“Why blame President Tinubu for stopping wasteful spending on fuel subsidy when the decision has been enabling you to collect improved allocations in the last nine months, although without much to show for it?
“The Oyo State government has received over N207 billion in allocations from Abuja since May last year, and this excludes the billions of naira accrued to the 33 local government councils which the governor hijacked from them.
“Rather than use the whopping allocations to create wealth, Gov. Makinde mopped up more funds from loans, grants, IGR, and illegal sale of government assets without accountability.
“So, who then addresses hunger, poverty, and unemployment in Oyo State when the governor always engages in wasteful spending, capital flight, and misplaced priorities?”.