Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the forthcoming governorship election in Ondo State, has said he would love to be a governor like Rotimi Akeredolu so that there would be a basis for comparison in what they can achieve in three and half years.
He said this at the ongoing governorship debate organised by Channels TV, while rebutting statements by Akeredolu that he (Jegede) was part of the administration that owed pensioners, civil servants and generally performed below expectations.
The governor had pointed out that, as Jegede said, pensions were rights and not privileges, but that his government met arrears of pensions and salaries.
His words: “The government he(Jegede) served in was owing arrears of pensions; we paid.
“Morale was low in the civil service and the civil servants were dying, being owed seven months salaries; we paid.”
Responding, Jegede said: “I do understand Mr. Governor’s emotions. I would love to be in his shoes. I would love to be a governor so the people can compare what I will do in three and a half years to what he has done.
“This is because I do not know the basis of comparison between a commissioner (himself) and a governor (Akeredolu).
“Yes, I was part of the government. But that administration did well. The water project the governor mentioned is the brainchild of that administration.
“I would love Mr. Governor to point out specifically what he has done.”
On internally-generated revenue, IGR, when Akeredolu said his government was now making N20 billion monthly, Jegede said he would rather plug leakages than impose more tax burden on the people.
However, Governor Akeredolu responded by stating that the increase was due to the employment of over 400 graduates in the IGR drive, capturing those who were not in the tax net and blocking leakages.
Credit: Vanguard
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