• Says coalition agreement intact
Oyo State governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, on Wednesday, gave the assurance that the list of members of caretaker committees for the 33 Local Government Areas and 35 local council development areas will soon be forwarded to the state house of Assembly.
The list to be forwarded will include 138 women with at least two women from each local council.
Gov. Makinde’s assurance came on the heels of yearnings of leaders, stakeholders and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at a meeting held party secretariat, Molete, Ibadan.
Aside from making the names of the caretaker committee members known soon, Makinde vowed to ensure the LGs and LCDAs get more money for their operations.
“We’ll ensure the money gets to the local governments. We will announce the members of the caretaker committees soon. We’ll pass to the Oyo House of Assembly and we have been assured of rapid consideration.
“The PDP constitution has mandated that 35 per cent of positions must be reserved for women. So, 138 women are among the members of caretaker committees to be named. Two women each have been selected from the LGs and LCDAs,” Makinde said.
Addressing yearnings that more “core” PDP members occupy government positions, Makinde said though PDP members will get the lion share in his government, he still had to respect the coalition agreement upon which he became governor.
Rather than people rely on handouts or offers from government, Makinde said he was keener on engendering a private sector-driven economy that will bring sustainable benefit to the people.
“They (coalition) also assisted, as PDP we will get the lion’s share but we have to ensure that those who supported us also get theirs.
“We have not made up to half of the appointments that we can make. However, beyond appointments, there are other opportunities. The government cannot employ everyone.
“We cannot truncate people’s career as a result of political leaning. We also have to respect the coalition that brought us into government.
“Let there be unity in the party and we should support one another. People may not get exactly what they want but they should pray that God blesses the little they get. “Government has the intention to execute several programmes and the youths will benefit more from a private sector-led economy that we believe will benefit the people of the state. “The people cannot continue to rely on handouts from governments. “Some of those politicians who relied on that in the past are going poor. So, it is not a sustainable approach.
“If you take people out of poverty, they should not return to poverty and that is the approach of government to take a lot of people out of poverty, Makinde said.
The meeting had in attendance state executive council members of the Oyo PDP led by its Chairman, Kunmi Mustapha; Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Saka Balogun; party leaders like Chief Nureni Akanbi, Chief Jacob Adetoro, Chief Sunday Ogunlade, Chief Bayo Lawal, Mr Femi Babalola and Mrs Bose Adedibu.
