PDP wants federal, state governments to revisit abandoned projects

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The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the federal and state government to reconsider their stands on the discontinuity of projects embarked upon by their predecessors, saying the development of Nigeria should be seen as a collective effort instead of some personal aggrandisement.

The party also condemned the ongoing anti-corruption crusade in the country, describing is as an exercise fraught with partiality, witch-hunting and a desperate attempt to malign the reputation of the PDP.

The PDP, through its Publicity Secretary and a former Minister or State for Works, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye, said Nigeria would have made more progress if the completion of abandoned projects were made a focal point by successive governments across all the tiers of government.

Speaking at the Town Hall of London Borough of Hackney, United Kingdom, at an event organised by the councillor representing Stoke Newington, Susan Fajana-Thomas, to deliberate with Ekiti State indigenes in Britain, Adeyeye described abandoned projects as colossal waste of resources.

Adeyeye, who is an aspirant in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Ekiti State, said if elected, his government, would ensure all the abandoned projects would be completed. According to him, they resource used to start these projects belong to the country and shouldn’t be allowed to go to waste.

Adeyeye noted that a report of an investigation conducted by a group of researchers during the tenure of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala estimated the worth of the country’s abandoned projects to be over 17 trillion naira, which is a “wasteful and unfair squandering of our resources.”

He also stressed the need for well-meaning Nigerians at home and in the diaspora to join forces with the party to develop the country. He said the party is being transformed to be more democratic and to ensure the interests of everybody is protected.Adeyeye encouraged Ekiti people in the diaspora to come home and contribute their quota in the development of the state. According to him, his government, when elected would ensure an office would be created for indigenes in the diaspora, which would be headed by one of them.

Although, he did not write off the achievements of the state’s present and previous administrations, he said a lot still needed to be done to upgrade the people’s standard of living. He stated that the coming election in the state would be about personalities, rather than political parties as the people of the state now know exactly the type of leader they desire.

Adeyeye, an accomplished journalist, lawyer and the Pro-Chancellor of Ekiti State University, emphasised the need to invest in education as this would turn out to be a major internally generated revenue (IGR) for the state.

However, Adeyeye, who expressed lack of confidence in the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said he did not foresee any challenges as the parameters to choose competent leaders favour him.

“I cannot say INEC would do a good job going by the reports of the previous elections they have conducted but we are sure the election will favour us as the people are already connecting with our ideals,” he said.

In Ekiti, Adeyeye also alleged that a former prevented him from becoming governor and minister.According to him, the former leader had also asked the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to drop his name as a ministerial nominee, which made him to defect to the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Adeyeye further alleged that a former Lagos State helmsman stopped his gubernatorial ambition when he supported ex-governor Kayode Fayemi (now a minister) against him.

He promised to make “Ekiti the hub of higher education and health tourism, where people from across the world would visit to contribute to its economic development.

“Over $1 billion is contributed to the Indian economy through medical tourism. We had some of the best facilities at the University College Hospital (UCH) in the 1970s. At that time, members of the Saudi Arabian royal family used to go there for treatment,” he said. He pledged to revive agriculture, particularly cocoa plantation, adding that he would serve the people and attract investments to the state, if he becomes governor.

He lamented that the textile factory in Ado-Ekiti, which was established in 1967 had become moribund.While promising to build a centre for Ekiti people in the diaspora, he added: “Fayemi buried the textile industry five years ago when he converted the site into a shopping mall.”