The motorcycles distributed to APC party members
“Àwọn olóṣèlú ló fún àwa party members ní ẹ̀bùn yẹn. Kí Olúwa bá wa bùkun wọn.” she said in Yoruba.
In 2021, Honourable Amobi Akintola representing Iwo, Ayedire, and Ola-Oluwa Federal Constituency in Osun state nominated a N50m project under the Economy and Recovery Growth Scheme to supply motorcycles, hairdressing and sewing machines to residents of his constituency.
On Saturday, 8th January 2022, the Honourable implemented the project at Methodist Primary School Araromi Iwo, Iwo in Osun state. The projects distributed include motorcycles, hairdryers, refridgerators, gas cylinders, sewing machines, generators, and coolers.
At the event, beneficiaries were gifted these items using a booklet published by the All Progressives Congress. The booklet contained the names and phone numbers of party members who received the items.
The Honourable not only diverted the items to party members, but he also labelled the motorcycles as “Donated by Hon. Amobi Yinusa Akintola” which gives the beneficiaries the impression that the items were purchased with his personal funds.
Taxpayers-funded projects should not be labelled as donations by elected representatives in the National Assembly; this is a malicious attempt at deliberately misinforming their constituents, for selfish political interests.
One of the beneficiaries from Ayedire, name withheld, told Tracka that the hairdressing equipment she received was a gift to the party members from the politician.
“Àwọn olóṣèlú ló fún àwa party members ní ẹ̀bùn yẹn. Kí Olúwa bá wa bùkun wọn.” she said in Yoruba. The statement translates to “The politicians gave we the party members the gift. May God bless them.”
Empowerment projects are a vehicle towards financial freedom for citizens. For a country like Nigeria, where its unemployment rate as of 2021 was 33%, and citizens live on less than a dollar a day, these projects can be a ticket out of poverty.
Hence, citizens are elated when elected officials decide to opt for this dividend instead of capital projects. Citizens get quicker gratification from cash and material grants than the construction of a school, clinic, or market.
However, politicians have over the years turned around this venture into a loophole for siphoning funds, enriching their loved ones, and a reward program for party loyalists. Rarely do citizens without political party affiliations become beneficiaries of these programs.
In 2021, of the N100billion earmarked for Zonal Intervention Projects, empowerment projects gulped N59.5billion, which means over half of the allocation was plugged into a scheme that doesn’t have a clear-cut method of monitoring and evaluating impact and sustainability.
In Osun state, N1.31billion out of the N1.99billion was allocated to empowerment projects. That’s 66% of public funds being pumped into schemes that can be easily embezzled and diverted for the selfish use of politicians.
When we spoke to residents who were not members of any political party about their involvement with the grant, they lamented bitterly.
“Many of us did not even know about the distribution until the Friday before, and they said it was for party members only, so we thought it was an APC event. It is now that you are telling us that we know it should be for everybody. Our leaders are evil people.” Adesola, a yam seller, said.
We call on Honourable Amobi Akintola to explain to the public how an empowerment project meant for the residents of Iwo, Ayedire, and Ola-Oluwa was diverted to an APC affair. This act is an injustice to them and a gross misuse of taxpayers funds. Honourable Amobi must redeem himself by recalling the distribution of these materials and conducting the exercise properly.
We also use this opportunity to advise National Assembly members to desist from diverting empowerment projects for their personal use.
Public funds must work for the good of the people.
Story by Ayomide Ladipo and Tolulope Akinola
This is an awesome discovery! Keep on doing the good job!
Thank you Silvanus!