The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, has condemned in strong terms the orchestrated commissioning of a Housing Estate project on Wednesday by Governor Seyi Makinde, saying the governor was only trying to use the name of late Hon. Olaide Akinremi to cover up the fraudulent conversion of the state-owned Trans Amusement Park in Ibadan into private housing estates.
Akinremi, until his passing in July last year, was the lawmaker representing Ibadan North Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and a member of the APC.
He won his first election on the platform of the APC in 2019 and also emerged as a member of the National Caretaker Committee before his reelection under the same APC in 2023.
In a statement issued and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, APC accused Governor Makinde of playing dirty politics with the death of Akinremi and wondered why the governor “Would not do away with using foul means to secure electoral victory at any given opportunity since it is obvious that the governor is again out to mislead voters in Ibadan North Federal Constituency who are going to poll this Saturday.
“Trans Amusement Park situated in Samonda, Ibadan was a facility built on a large expanse of land in the heart of the state capital about 40 years ago with a view to providing the recreational and tourism needs of the citizens especially the younger ones in the society, but Makinde destroyed it and went ahead to sell off the whole land on which it was situated to his friends and cronies who are mostly foreigners.
“Preservation and maintenance of recreational facilities such as the destroyed Trans Amusement Park are part of the things that make some nations worthy of being classified as belonging to saner climes.
“Rather than develop the Park and Green Zone Reserves, which harboured Agodi Gardens to attract tourists from all over the world, Makinde’s administration took them away from existence and sold off the large expanse of land on which the facilities were existing, even as we are now praying for Bower’s Tower not to suffer a similar fate.
“Erecting a gatehouse on a public land being put up for sale is not a project to be commissioned by any serious government.
“Also, it must be noted that the late Akinremi had immortalized himself with empowerment of constituents and bringing of good projects to his Constituency while he was alive and to this end, Makinde’s badly- scripted gimmick in naming the Estates expected on the grabbed land after him (Akinremi ) is tantamount to dancing on his grave in the name of politicking”, APC added.
