The Chief Press Secretary of the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde has responded to claims by Ibadan-based lawyer, Chief Niyi Akintola, SAN, that the State Government has no ‘think-tank’ in place to enhance the performance of Government.
The allegations were made by Akintola, who was a 2019 governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, spoke during an interview on Fresh 105.9 FM, Ibadan, on Saturday.
He said, “You need to subject your actions to self-criticism. I remember I have been in the think-tank team of at least two governments, I won’t mention names. Those of us who were in the think-tank were not necessarily the commissioners or people you see in government, no, but serious thinking goes on behind the scene.
“I can only speak as a stakeholder – there is danger here; let’s correct this and that. But anything that comes with the issue of policy or governance is not my business. I am in the APC; he is in the PDP. I will not even be trusted if I bring such suggestion. What connects all of us is something like COVID-19; I visited the state’s isolation centre to see what was going on there.
“For instance, Governor Seyi Makinde has no management team for COVID-19. Until the management team is put in place, I will not release my cheque for COVID-19 donation to the state’s COVID-19 account.”
The senior lawyer, who stressed the need for government to subject issues to critical thinking before acting or speaking, recalled that during the first term of former Governor Abiola Ajimobi, he quickly put in place a think-tank team headed by Prof. Demola Ariyo.
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However, Taiwo Adisa, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, noted that Akintola passed such comment for want of tangible things to say in order to remain in the news ahead of the next election.
“The issue of think-tank is not a matter for newspaper or broadcast advertisement. They didn’t call it a market square body but a think-tank. If the governor does not have a think-tank, is it he that is not in government that would know?
“It is unthinkable for any educated person to think that another educated person would not follow procedures that are normal. What we are sure of is that people like Chief Akintola will want to keep being in the news ahead of coming elections, so, they want to say anything that comes from their mouth.”
