• Accuses governor of planning to mop up funds ahead of guber poll
• It’s an error on printer’s part, says govt
• Edema advocates N250.000 as minimum wage
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Ondo State chapter, has carpeted Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for allegedly allocating N5 billion to renovate daycare centres in the state.
The opposition party, in a statement, said: “The amount was meant to buy baby strollers, toys, and beddings. Another N18 billion loan was to be sourced from the French Development Agency for the provision of water in Akure and its environs.
“What is regrettable about it is that the document went through several layers of screening and vetting before being forwarded to the State House of Assembly. The House Committee on Appropriation invited government officials who took turns to defend the same budget. Is it a case that nobody spotted these regrettable errors?
“The PDP, Ondo State chapter, wishes to state unequivocally that the Aiyedatiwa government planned to swindle the people through the daycare renovation project that was thwarted by the eagle-eyed media.
“Therefore, a mere apology is not enough. All those connected with this fraud must be brought to justice. The governor must clear himself to dispel the allegations of desperation to mop up funds to bankroll his election.”
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Emmanuel Igbasan, who described the error as regrettable, claimed that the amount allocated for the daycare centres in the budget was a missed opportunity He said it was an error on the part of the printer that produced the fiscal document.
“The N5 billion provision was actually meant to reflect the expected drawdown from the Nigerian for Women Project (World Bank-supported), which had earlier been captured under the capital receipts of the document referred to by Sahara Reporters. The N18 million reported on the Nigerian for Women Project is meant for the renovation of the daycare project.
“This is a regrettable printer’s interpolation error that occurred during the process of preparing the document for publication.
“Hence, at the operational level, this error will not materialise and is almost impossible to detect. The ministry takes full responsibility for this error, and we have immediately set in motion the machinery to have the error corrected,” he said.
IN another development, a governorship aspirant who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the just-concluded governorship primaries in Ondo State, Gbenga Edema, has stated that workers deserved more than N70,000 as minimum wage.
Edema, who saluted workers, particularly those in the state, on the occasion of this year’s May Day celebration, emphasised the need for a substantial increase in the minimum wage to reflect in the standard of living of the workers.
According to him, the minimum wage for workers should be raised to no less than N250,000 per month when calculated at the rate of N1,250 per dollar.