The Opposition People Democratic Party PDP, in Ondo state, has alleged governor, Rotimi Akeredolu of secretly signing an Executive Order to provide legal cover for the appointment of his son, Babajide as Director-General of Performance and Project Implementation Monitoring Unit (PPIMU) in the state.
Recall that criticism had trailed the appointment of the son by his father as the DG of PPIMU.
The party said the order has reduced State Commissioners to submit projects from their Ministries for approval to the governor’s son.
A statement by the Publicity Secretary of the state PDP, Kennedy Peretei in Akure said that the executive order “amongst other provisions states that ” all MDAs of Ondo State Government shall process approvals for projects through the Impact Assurance Process of PPIMU as constituted by this Order.
As if to cover for the incompetence and lack of experience of the son to discharge such responsibilities demanded by his office, the Order states further that the operational Head of PPIMU appointed by the Governor of Ondo State shall be the Director-General/Special Adviser (DG/SA) and shall be supported by a professional corp of officers in various categories to be recruited from within and outside of the civil service.
The statement added that “On a good day, when a Governor signs an Executive Order for the good of the people, it is done with funfair, but this particular one was secretly signed because of the implications for the government.
“It is an Order that has finally reduced Honourable State Commissioners, some of them accomplished in their various fields to submit projects from their Ministries for approval to Mr Governor’s son, who will, in turn, depend on “professional Corp of officers” to give such approvals before Almighty Mr Governor appends his signature with the red pen.
“Governance has never been reduced to such a laughable extent in the history of the state.
The party explained that two former governors, late Dr Olusegun Agagu and Dr Segun Mimiko came up with the PPMU to serve as a check on contractors that quoted bogus figures for government projects or items to be procured by the government.
But “When Mr Governor realised that, there was no legal framework for the appointment of a DG for PPIMU, he had to resort to Executive Order to legitimise illegality.
“Outside of its illegality, what will be the job of career civil servants in various ministries, some of whom parade professional certificates.
“They will now all be at the mercy of a young man who has never worked anywhere all his life.
In a swift reaction, Governor Akeredolu in a statement signed by the information and Orientation commissioner Donald Ojogo said the opposition party had misfired.
Ojogo said the outburst of the opposition was done for “either gross lack of knowledge about public governance or another failed but usually, warped twist to misinform the populace.
” PPIMU has come to stay. It is not the baby of an individual. It is an initiative to drive service delivery and enhance efficiency in public service.
“The public, especially the Ondo State Public Service is enjoined to ignore the fruitless effort of the PDP at incitement.
Ojogo added that” They misfired. A political party that does not know the difference between ‘process for approvals through’ and ‘seek approval from’ has no business in the affairs of men.
