The council of Young Leaders groups under the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, made several claims about Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the incumbent Ondo governor and candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, in Saturday’s gubernatorial election. The group claimed that Aiyedatiwa’s administration has failed to perform in the 10 months since he was sworn in as governor.
In a statement released by the group and published on Tribune Online, they stated that the governor has not performed well since assuming office, following the demise of his predecessor, Rotimi Akeredolu.
The NV-A team went ahead to extract the claims made in the statement signed by the team lead, Wande Ajayi, to verify Aiyedatiwa’s performance as Ondo governor in the last 10 months and ahead of the November 16 gubernatorial election.
CLAIM 1
Aiyedatiwa neglected inherited infrastructure projects such as the Unimed Teaching Hospital in Akure.
VERIFICATION
A Vanguard News Nigeria report from March 13, 2024 revealed that Aiyedatiwa announced that his administration is currently constructing a 500 bed ward at the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH). According to the governor, the construction and renovation of many health facilities and replacement of obsolete medical equipment with ultra-modern down-to-the-earth equipment, across all levels of care is also ongoing.
The state’s deputy governor, Olayide Adelami, also mentioned the UNIMED 500-bed construction in an interview with The Nation in April 2024. Further keyword searches conducted on the construction of the 500-bed wards at the UNIMED Teaching Hospital revealed that the project began during Akeredolu’s administration in 2019.
VERDICT
The claim that governor Aiyedatiwa has neglected infrastructure projects including the 500-bed UNIMED construction inherited from his predecessor, Akeredolu, is FALSE. Findings show that the hospital wards are still under construction in Aiyedatiwa’s administration.
CLAIM 2
The Teaching Hospital in Akure initiated by Akeredolu has been abandoned by Aiyedatiwa
VERIFICATION
In March 2020, Akeredolu posted on X that his administration had flagged off two ultra-modern hospitals of 250 beds each in Akure and Ondo branches of the UNIMED teaching hospital. He made this known while commissioning the first critical care unit at the UNIMED teaching hospital in Akure.
The Ondo State Ministry of Health reported on July 24, 2024, that the UNIMED Teaching Hospital Akure Complex is close to completion and will be commissioned on or before December 2024.
According to the Commissioner for Health, Dr Banji Awolowo Ajaka, the project has reached 90% completion and the state would speed up completion by making funds available for the contractor to complete the project before December 2024.
VERDICT
The claim that Governor Aiyedatiwa abandoned the Teaching Hospital in Akure is MISLEADING. The state commissioner for health confirmed the project is near completion and will be commissioned by December 2024.
CLAIM 3
Akure has no functional teaching hospital, despite the Federal Government’s approval of a teaching hospital for FUTA.
VERIFICATION
On November 6, President Tinubu approved the immediate establishment of a Teaching Hospital in Akure, Ondo State’s capital. The teaching hospital will support the training of medical students from the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), once completed.
Before then, FUTA laid the foundation for the teaching hospital in December 2023 on 200 hectares of land in Akure. But, the federal government’s order would help to speed it up as the president directed that all necessary arrangements be made to ensure the hospital’s swift setup.
Setting up the university’s teaching hospital and the College of Medical Sciences will enable the institution to commence awarding degrees in medical programmes. This is happening 43 years after the university of technology was established.
Also, with the commissioning of the UNIMED Teaching Hospital Akure Complex expected to happen in December 2024, Akure will have its first functional teaching hospital.
VERDICT
It is TRUE that Akure does not have a functioning teaching hospital and that the federal government just approved a teaching hospital for FUTA.
CLAIM 4
Aiyedatiwa allocated 31 billion naira for the construction of a High Court complex.
VERIFICATION
In an interview with the attorney general of Ondo state, Dr. Kayode Ajulo, said the need for a new judicial complex was first recognized during the time of the late governor Rotimi Akeredolu, but was stalled due to the governor’s poor health and eventual passing. Ajulo confirmed that under the administration of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the construction of the High court complex has kicked off.
On October 20, 2024, OsunDefender reported that approval for the court complex was given at a State Executive Council meeting chaired by the governor. The construction of the court complex was awarded to Westfield Global Construction Company at the cost of N31.111 billion and it is expected to be completed in 48 weeks.
VERDICT
The claim that Aiyedatiwa allocated N31.111 billion for the construction of a High Court Complex in the state is TRUE.
CLAIM 5
Another failure of Aiyedatiwa’s administration is his failure to pay the minimum wage to civil servants.
VERIFICATION
The Aiyedatiwa-led Ondo state approved the 70,000 naira new Minimum Wage for Ondo State workers. This approval was reported in August 2024.
On October 14, 2024, a statement from the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, announced that despite the fact that the federal government approved N70,000 as the new minimum wage, Ondo will be paying N73,000 to its workers. This was widely covered by The Nation, BusinessDay and PM New Nigeria.
On November 1, 2024, the governor announced that the state government would begin implementing the New Minimum Wage for civil servants in the state by the end of the month.
VERDICT
The claim that the governor has failed to pay minimum wage to workers in the state is MISLEADING; findings show that the implementation will start at the end of November.
CLAIM 6
Despite conducting online exams and interviews, not a single person has been employed under his administration. He promised to recruit 1,000 secondary school teachers through TESCOM and 2,000 primary school teachers through SUBEB, but to date, no new teachers have been hired.
VERIFICATION
On March 15, the Ondo State Government announced it had concluded plans to recruit Teachers to fill vacant positions in all its Public Schools across the State.
The Hope reported on April 9 that, “as part of the efforts in strengthening the academic standard and promoting effective teaching and learning in the public secondary schools of Ondo State, Governor Aiyedatiwa had approved the recruitment of 1,000 teachers into the public secondary schools of the State”, which implies that the Governor was in line with his promise.
According to a publication by The Guardian on May 23, no fewer than 32,000 applicants applied for the available 1,000 secondary school teaching jobs at the Ondo State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), which also shows that the process of a recruitment was initiated by the State Government, in line with the claim.
However, when NV-A contacted the Chairman of the Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Mr Victor Olabimtan, he confirmed that the recruitment process has been finalized but the names of shortlisted teachers will not be released until the end of November.
Olabimtan said: “The recruitment is done and the list is expected to be out before the end of the month of November. There is no challenge so far in the exercise.”
VERDICT
The claims that Ayidatiwa has failed to employ teachers under his administration is MISLEADING. The Ondo SUBEB chairman confirmed the outcome of the recruitment process that it has been finalized the list of employed teachers will be out soon.
CLAIM 7
Despite receiving over N300 million in ecological funds, Aiyedatiwa’s administration has done nothing to mitigate the environmental risks.
VERIFICATION
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, Ondo state has received over 423,491,366 from December 2023 when Aiyedatiwa assumed office to July 2024.
| Month | Amount (Naira) |
| July 2024 | 58,836,573.73 |
| June 2024 | 49,324,863.81 |
| May 2024 | 53,302,910.17 |
| April 2024 | 44,773,318.25 |
| March 2024 | 47,947,326.38 |
| February 2024 | 58,062,489.24 |
| January 2024 | 52,407,311.01 |
| December 2023 | 58,836,573.73 |
| TOTAL | 423,491,366.32 |
Source: National Bureau of Statistics, Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) Reports
However, a look at the 2024 Third Quarter Budget Performance Report of Ondo state and the amount spent on Environmental and Ecological Projects revealed the following.
| Admin Unit | 2024 OriginalBudget | 2024 Q3Performance | 2024 PerformanceYear to Date (Q1-Q3) | % Performance Year toDate against 2024Original Budget | Balance (againstOriginal Budget) |
| Ministry of Environment | 2,078,147,150.00 | 4,286,000.00 | 11,449,200.00 | 0.6% | 2,066,697,950.00 |
| Agro-Climatological and Ecological Project | 29,000,000.00 | 2,848,000.00 | 4,873,000.00 | 16.8% | 24,127,000.00 |
| Agro-Climatological and Ecological Project | 9,000,000.00 | 2,848,000.00 | 4,873,000.00 | 54.1% | 4,127,000.00 |
| Agro-Climatological and Ecological Project | 20,000,000.00 | – | – | 0% | 20,000,000.00 |
| Rehabilitation of Flooded Water Scheme Alagbaka Spring Water supply Scheme, Akure | 30,000,000.00 | – | – | 0% | 30,000,000.00 |
| Rehabilitation of flooded Ako Water Supply Scheme, Oba Akoko | 25,000,000.00 | – | – | 0% | 25,000,000.00 |
| Renovation/Resuscitation of Community Based Flood Early Warning signal Station Units: Ikare Akoko, Ondo | 20,000,000 | – | – | 0% | 20,000,000 |
| Establishment of Digital Mapping of Flood prone Areas | 20,000,000 | – | – | 0% | 20,000,000 |
| 2,231,147,150.00 | 5,696,000.00 | 11,449,200.00 | 2,209,951,950.00 |
Less than 18 million naira has been spent to mitigate the environmental risks in the state since Aiyedatiwa assumed office, despite receiving over 400 million in ecological funds from the FAAC. Also, a FIJ report on ecological funds shows that Ondo state did not make it into the list of performing states.
VERDICT
The claim that governor Aiyedatiwa did not utilize over N300 million disbursed to the state as ecological funds is TRUE as findings show the state did nothing to the ecology with the funds.
CLAIM 8
No new roads have been completed, no new schools or hospitals have been built, and no significant economic or social reforms have been implemented.
VERIFICATION
On November 12, Aiyedatiwa officially commissioned the rehabilitated 32.7km Alape Junction – Araromi Seaside Road in Ilaje local government area, a project of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC). This was reported by Arise TV.
Similarly, on October 12, 2024, AIT reported that the governor commissioned a 4km Ile Olajide/ Oke Igbo Rural Road.
On October 1, 2024, The Leadership reported that Aiyedatiwa approved a N3.5 billion counterpart fund for the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to support the construction and renovation of public primary schools across the state.
However, further searches conducted on schools commissioned by the governor did not show any related information on school projects or buildings commissioned by Aiyedatiwa’s administration.
Meanwhile, the governor partnered with the World Bank in August 2024 to build 203 health centers across the 18 local government areas of the state. This was reported by The Nation and The Guardian newspaper.
Last month, the governor also flagged off the disbursement of N1.4 billion to unemployed youths, the elderly, and other vulnerable residents as part of the ONDO-CARES social intervention program.
In the same month, Aiyedatiwa approved the citing of an investment hub known as Diaspora Smart City (DSC) in Akure, the state capital. This is a proactive measure aimed at economic diversification and self-sufficiency in the state.
According to the governor, the DSC was conceived by his administration as a hub for global business and tourism. It affirms one of the cardinal programmes of the government, to advance the frontiers of economic prosperity and improve on the people’s living standards.
VERDICT
The claim by the group that no new roads were built is MISLEADING. Findings show that he commissioned two roads. However, the claim that he didn’t build a new hospital is TRUE but the governor is completing the UNIMED teaching hospital project that his predecessor started. Also, the claim that no significant economic or social reforms have been implemented is MISLEADING as the governor has flagged-off and approved a couple of social and economic investment programs.
CONCLUSION
The claim made by the Ondo PDP youth that Aiyedatiwa’s administration has failed to perform in the 10 months since he was sworn in as governor is MOSTLY FALSE, 5 of the claims turned out to be misleading, 1 was outrightly FALSE while 4 was TRUE. NV-A found that Aiyedatiwa has continued with the project started by his deceased predecessor and also commissioned new projects and invested in social and economic intervention programs, though he’s approved controversial rehabilitation and renovation projects.
By Yunusa Umar, Umoh Umoh Etop, Mutiat Ahmed, Emmanuel Awoko, Muzha Kucha
