Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has released documents he described as “documentary evidence” to back his claim that the Oyo State Government, under Governor Seyi Makinde, received N50 billion from the Federal Government as a special intervention fund following the January 2024 explosion in Ibadan.
Fayose made the documents public on Sunday in a statement accompanied by a memo purportedly issued from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. He said the disclosure was in direct response to a public challenge by Makinde, who had asked him to substantiate an earlier allegation made during a national television appearance.
“Two days ago, I stated on national television that Oyo State under Governor Seyi Makinde received N50bn 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 alleged that out of the N50 billion intervention fund, only N4.5 billion was paid to victims of the explosion, accusing Makinde of diverting the balance to advance personal political ambitions.
“Only N4.5bn was paid to victims of the Ibadan explosion. The rest, alongside other intervention funds, was diverted to fund his presidential ambition. This, in part, explains the crisis in the PDP and his frequent attacks on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his administration,” Fayose alleged.
He said he was compelled to release official documents, despite his personal reservations, 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.
Fayose further argued that Makinde’s alleged disclosure of details from private meetings with President Tinubu made fuller public disclosure inevitable, insisting that the public deserved clarity on the handling of intervention funds.
He challenged the Oyo State governor to seek legal redress if he believed the allegations were false, maintaining that he possessed sufficient evidence to defend his claims in court.
“I challenge Governor Seyi Makinde to sue me on this. There are also proofs of other intervention funds received from Tinubu’s administration by the Oyo State Government which the governor refused to disclose to the people,” Fayose said.
The former Ekiti governor also claimed to have documentary evidence contradicting Oyo State’s publicly stated Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) figures, adding that he would release those details at a later date.
“There are documentary evidences on the actual Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Oyo State, as against Governor Makinde’s claim, 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.
