Gbenga Daniel to Amosun: Stop rubbishing my legacy

A former governor of Ogun State, Mr. Gbenga Daniel, has berated Governor Ibikunle Amosun for rubbishing all the “good works” he did during his tenure between 2003 and 2011.

Daniel, who is being prosecuted for financial impropriety by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, told journalists at his Mende home in Lagos on Tuesday that the Amosun administration had failed and he was working hard to ensure that Amosun did not win a second term in 2015.

He boasted that during his tenure, he built roads and awarded contracts to only indigenes of the state but Amosun had not built a single road but was only expanding the existing ones. He said the Amosun administration had incurred debt to the tune of N300bn in less than four years.

The former governor said due to the incompetence of the All Progressives Congress-led administration, Ogun State had lost a proposed refinery which should have been built by billionaire businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, in Ode-Omi, in the Waterside; as well as a deep-seaport which he had laid the groundwork for.

He said, “Every step or project he (Amosun) has taken or done is to erase me or surpass me. How can that be the philosophy of a government? But my people have said they want a better governor and because they are blaming me, I have no choice but to ensure that they have a better governor. If it means joining hands with the Labour Party, the Peoples Democratic Party or President Goodluck Jonathan, it does not matter, we just have to make the change.

“We have spent over N270bn on road expansion, not brand new roads. Since the advent of this administration, I am not aware of a brand new road that they have opened up, they have expanded existing roads.”

However, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy in the state, Yusuf Olaniyonu, said Daniel’s claim that his legacy was being rubbished by the present administration was an admission of guilt.

He said the Amosun administration had incurred debt of less than N40bn as opposed to Daniel’s claim.

He said, “Ex-Governor Daniel is right that we are rubbishing his legacies of violence, a legacy of owing teachers 19 months’ salary, a legacy of bad roads. Our debt profile as of March 2014 was N37.9bn so I don’t know where he is getting his figures from. I think he should face his EFCC case and let us work.”