Politics
N11 billion wage bill: Oyo PDP tackles APC, threatens to open dirty past
The Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Party (PDP) on Saturday has reacted to the campaign of calumny against the State Governor, Engr., Seyi Makinde by APC, saying if the trend continues, their dirty past would be recalled.
The party said, the Governor had wooed foreign investors to the State as a result of his business visit to a recent business/investment forum in the United States of America (USA).
The ruling party in Oyo described as misrepresentation, statement by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, quoting the Governor as saying, “Oyo has a workforce of 115,000 and pays a wage bill of N11 billion.”
The statement which was signed by the Publicity Secretary of Oyo State PDP, Engineer Akeem Olatunji, noted that, “those behind the attacks are uninformed, mischievous devious and attention seekers.”
The statement said: “the opposition APC and some political minions including one Mr. Hakeem Alao, who is claiming to be the governorship candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the last election, are confused and needed to be educated about running a state.
The party pointed out that the figure put out by Governor Makinde was a combination of state and local government workers and that the implementation of the minimum wage and incremental adjustment took the wage bill of workers in both tiers of government from N8 billion monthly to N11 billion.
The party added that Governor Makinde has not intention to loot the state at PDP was trying to make people believe adding that, the Governor has demonstrated his commitment to genuine governance in the state.
“Makinde has proven through his policies and actions that integrity is non-negotiable and rekindled the hope of Nigerians that public accountability and transparency could be practised in governance.”
It added that the erstwhile ruling party is afraid of its shadows and thinks everyone would be like its leaders, who made a mess of governance and stole the state blind when given the opportunity to govern it.
“We read with bewilderment the statement credited to the crisis-ridden All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State in which it criticised Governor Seyi Makinde, following his well-articulated and widely-commended investment pitch during the recently concluded Nigerian-American Business Forum held at Florida, United States.
“In their usual frustrated nature, the APC tried to cast aspersion on another wonderful initiative of the Makinde administration: selling Oyo State to the world with a view to attracting investments and expanding its economy.
“By leaving the meat of Makinde’s strategic proposal to investors to embrace Oyo State and the uncommon passion with which he advertised Oyo to hundreds of investors, to dwell on the figure of the Oyo State workforce and the wage bill, the APC showed itself as wicked and unconcerned about the prosperity of the state.
“In the statement, the APC or perhaps its attention-seeking publicity handlers, made unjustifiable claim that the 115,000 workforce and N11 billion wage figure quoted by the governor was fake and an attempt to loot.
“It went into a rigmarole of the alleged figures of each segment of the workforce at the state and local government levels, claiming that workers at the local government councils were paid directly from the federation account.
“One wonders whether the crisis of confidence rocking the APC has rendered everyone in it incapable of thinking straight.
“If not, the writers of that statement would have been able to see that the total tally of the figures they pushed out was even more than the 115,000 quoted by Governor Makinde.
“We also know that reasonable people will see that it is no-brainer that the figure and wage bill quoted by the governor was the overall workforce in Oyo State, a position, which the governor made clear in his statement.
“We have seen the deficit in the education of the APC members and we are ready to offer pro bono services in teaching them the art of governance and running a state.
“One, Governor Makinde committed no blunder by saying that the workforce of Oyo State is 115,000; he did not say that was the figure of the workforce of the Oyo State government.
“Two, the local government workers and pensioners are not paid from federation account as claimed by the unlearned APC publicity handlers.
The immediate past deputy governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Rivers State, Dr Emana Ambrose Amawhe has resigned her membership of the party with immediate effect.
In a letter dated 28th March, 2025 addressed to the Chairman of Edem Odo Ward in Akpabuyo Local Government Council of Cross River State, she said, her resignation was with immediate effect.
She pointed out in the letter that her resignation should not be taken lightly, while she reaffirmed her commitment to and readiness to serve the government of Cross River and Nigeria in general in any capacities.
She said, “I am writing to formally resign my membership from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with immediate effect.
”I sincerely appreciate the opportunity given to me over time to contribute my quota to the growth of the party and the chance to serve as the Deputy Governorship Candidate in the last general elections.
”It was a privilege to be part of the PDP’s vision and engage with our people in meaningful ways. However, after much reflection in light of the current state of affairs within the party, I believe it is time for me to move on.
“This decision was not made lightly, but I remain committed to serving my community and contributing to the progress of our state and nation in other capacities.”
Ambrose-Amawhe was the running mate to Senator Sandy Onor in the 2023 governorship election in Cross River.
She had also contested for the House of Representatives seat for the Bakassi/Akpabuyo/Calabar South Federal Constituency under the PDP.
The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Rivers State Chapter, Chief Tony Okocha, has defended the emergency rule declared by President Bola Tinubu in the state, citing escalating security threats.
According to Chief Okocha, Rivers State was on the brink of anarchy due to increasing security concerns in various parts of the state.
Okocha made this statement while addressing journalists at the APC headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.
Justifying the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the declaration of a state of emergency, Okocha commended the President for his “timely” intervention and criticized those opposing the decision.
“The state of emergency called by Mr. President saved Rivers State from anarchy. When you see non-state actors brandishing guns and making statements that promote lawlessness, then you should know there is a problem.
“I see some people jumping onto television platforms to cast aspersions on Mr. President and condemn what they do not understand. Mr. President knows more than they do.
“The truth of the matter is that Rivers State was headed towards anarchy. We all know Rivers is one of the states that sustain this country. Some of the same people criticizing the President now would have also condemned him if he had done nothing.”
Chief Okocha also questioned the silence of former President Goodluck Jonathan and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) when the Rivers State House of Assembly complex was demolished under Governor Fubara’s administration.
“Thank God, President Goodluck Jonathan has been president, General Obasanjo has been president, and they know that every day on their table, they receive security reports.
“I hear the NBA saying the suspension is an affront to democracy. But when the assembly complex was burned and the next day, eleven pieces of equipment were deployed to demolish it, the NBA was silent. They were alive, yet we didn’t hear anything from them”, he said.
Reacting to criticism over why the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, was not sanctioned despite allegations that he contributed to the unrest, Okocha argued that Wike was not involved in the crisis.
He said, “For those asking why the Governor and members of the State House of Assembly were suspended but not the Minister of the FCT—was he in the frame? The answer is no”
Former presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party in the 2023 general election, Adewole Adebayo said, God has told him that the party will produce the next president in 2027 general election.
Speaking over the weekend in Abeokua when he met the members and executive who were led by the State Chairman, Yinka Ola-Williams, said he could confirm that a President of SDP will mount Aso Rock villa in 2027.
“One thing that God is telling me is that there will be an SDP president in the villa in 2027.
“For the first time in a long time, we will have people who care for the people. Let’s remain focused. The problems of Nigeria are our problems, not individuals.
“We are not against Tinubu as a person but we are against hunger, inflation, poverty, insecurity, unemployment. That’s what we are against,” he said.
Buttressing Adebayo’s position on modalities of joining the party, the SDP Chairman in Ogun State, Mr. Yinka Ola-Williams, disowned 30,000 membership cards and registers allegedly being flaunted by one of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aspirants in the 2023 governorship election in the State.
Ola-Williams said the party’s door is widely opened to anybody who wants to join, but such a person or group, no matter how highly placed, must follow the procedure as laid down in the party’s constitution.
He emphatically stated that the party had nothing to do with the membership cards and registers claimed by the aspirant, who said he got them from the party’s National Secretariat.
“We want people to join us, and we want to work together to provide a better government than what we have now that will remove poverty, provide a better healthcare system for people, improve education and all.
“But not that they come to the party, hijack the party and take the structure away. That’s what we will not agree,” Ola-Williams said.
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