By Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti
The Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Hon. Taiwo Olatunbosun has cleared air on position of contract and procurement processes in Ekiti state, insisting that Governor Oyebanji’s led Government has always followed the laid down procedures according to procurement laws of the state.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti at a roundtable media parley with the Correspondents chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ekiti state council, Olatunbosun insisted that there had never been any particular project executed by the Oyebanji’s led Government without following due process.
“I stand before you without any fear of contradiction and with all honesty, that our government has been following the provision of the law of procurement detailing the processes.
“When a particular project is to be implemented, it will be advertised. There is no road project that we have contracted out in this state under our current government that has not been properly advertised.
“There are administrative procedures and nobody can circumvent any of them. I have with me here, details of every road contract in the state, figures are very clear and we have contacts of the contractors.
“On sanitation, we have done a lot. Just recently, We had to take some measures to curb the issues of illegal dumping of refuse across the State. It’s very important that we realise that, in as much Government has responsibility to the people, people also have a lot of things to do.
“There are certain things that government won’t be the one to provide, when Bins are provided, we would stil have to enforce their usage to avoid indiscriminate dumping of refuse, especially in the State capital.
“But, there has been an improvement; government is doing everything to ensure that we sanitise ado and its environs.
“20 Dino bins will be put in strategic places from where garbage trucks would collect the refuse.
“People accused us that we brought in strangers from Lagos state to produce Dino bins for us, NO, what we are doing is Transfer of technology and Local context law of the government, which we are focused on.
“When you see something good that has been done for a very long time, we have to follow it. These people have the expertise and our own people are also there in manufacturing the bins so that they can also have the knowledge and learn first-hand.
“They are currently training and they will be certified. The reasons are because it will make them professionals, make the product cheaper and provide job opportunities.
“You talk about Interlink roads, we are working seriously on it but you know, government is a serious business too, and it requires planning.
‘Considering the resources we have, we can’t take everything at a time. So it must be done one after the other.
“In as much people want us to complete all interlink roads in Ado, there are other roads in the state that also requires governments consideration.
“Government has awarded Phase 1 of the Ring road project, meant to decongest traffic in Ado-Ekiti metropolis.
Many roads that have been rehabilitated in the state, include; Omisanjana, Ado/Ilawe, Aramoko roads, among others.
“Our government is not about road construction alone, because other sectors such as, health, education, agriculture also needs the attention of government and we have to allocate money to all of these things but, I assure you this year will be better.
“I assure you, this year will witness more development and project implementation considering the speed at which we are handling the ongoing projects.
“On tourism, table and business has changed, investors are coming to Ekiti State. The face of Ikogosi- Ekiti, has changed due to the facelift given to the Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort that has led to influx of tourists which has in turn boosted the economy of the people and the state.
“On the issue of electricity, we have been able to provide electricity through Public Private Partnership (PPP) for government establishments such as EKSU, Government offices, EKSUTH and some private concerns, for efficient services, following the completion of the Independent Power Project (IPP) that generates 3.6Kwatt of power.” He added.