Former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has released documents he described as documentary evidence to back his claim that the Federal Government paid Oyo State N50 billion as a special intervention fund after the January 2024 explosion in Ibadan.
Fayose made the documents public on Sunday in a statement accompanied by a memo from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
He said the disclosure followed a public challenge by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde to substantiate his earlier claim that the state received the funds.
“Two days ago, I stated on national television that Oyo State, under Governor Seyi Makinde, received N50 billion from the Federal Government as intervention for the Ibadan explosion. Yesterday, the governor asked me to provide evidence, and here is the evidence he requested,” Fayose said.
The former governor further alleged that only N4.5 billion was paid to victims of the explosion, accusing Makinde of diverting the balance to pursue personal political ambitions.
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“Only N4.5 billion was paid to victims of the Ibadan explosion. The rest, alongside other intervention funds, was diverted to fund his presidential ambition. This partly explains the crisis in the PDP and his persistent attacks on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his administration,” he alleged.
Fayose said he was compelled to release official documents, despite his reluctance, in the interest of transparency and public accountability.
“Even though it is not in my character to go public with official government documents, I had to do this so Nigerians will know who is saying the truth and who has not been sincere with the people of Oyo State,” he said.
He added that Makinde’s alleged disclosure of details from a private meeting with President Tinubu made fuller public disclosure unavoidable.
Fayose challenged the governor to seek legal redress if he believed the allegations were false, insisting he had sufficient evidence to defend his claims.
“I challenge Governor Seyi Makinde to sue me on this matter. There are also proofs of other intervention funds received by the Oyo State Government from Tinubu’s administration which the governor has refused to disclose to the people,” he said.
He also claimed to possess documentary evidence contradicting Makinde’s public claims on the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), noting that he would release the details at a later date.
“There are documentary evidences on the actual Internally Generated Revenue of Oyo State, contrary to Governor Makinde’s claims, but we will keep our gunpowder dry for now.
“My name is still Ayo Fayose. I don’t say what I can’t prove,” he said.
