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The candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and the All Progressives Congress(APC) in the forthcoming Ondo governorship election, on Sunday engaged themselves in a pulsating debate, in a bid to win the confidence of the electorate.
The PDP candidate, Agboola Ajayi, took a jab at the governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, accusing him of withdrawing over N1.2billion as security votes from the state budget thereby impoverishing the people.
He said despite the amount, the state is still undergoing severe security breaches in terms of murders and kidnappings.
Mr Aiyedatiwa, who is running for governor on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, denied the allegation, saying he never had any reason to spend N1.2billion security vote as alleged by the opposition candidate.
The duo were locked in a governorship debate organized by Channels TV in Akure on Sunday ahead of the November 16 governorship election.
Mr Agboola stressed that he had information that the governor withdrew the amount on the week of the Edo State governorship election, in spite of the hardship the Ondo people were going through.
He noted that the legacies left behind by the late Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in the establishment of Amotekun has been destroyed by the current administration, a situation he would correct if elected governor.
However, Mr Aiyedatiwa said his opponent was lying and that no such withdrawals were made.
“How can I withdraw N1.2billion for Edo election, I was not contesting any election in Edo and the budget is there published online for any one to verify,” said Mr Aiyedatiwa.
When asked to disclose how much was his security vote, Mr Aiyedatiwa said, “I cannot discuss that here because it is a security matter.”
Mr Ajayi also challenged Mr Aiyedatiwa to mention the amount he drew as security votes of he claimed it was not up to N1.2billion.
“If you say it is not N1.2billion, tell us how much you collected as security votes, if it is N2, tell us,” Mr Ajayi said.
But the governor insisted that those who seek information on the security votes should peruse the state appropriation act published online.
However, the appropriation act usually do not have any subhead as security votes from which any such information could be gleaned.
The candidates however admitted that the state has security challenges and that they would work out strategies to strengthen the existing network to make the state safer.
On the economy, Mr Ajayi said the state government had continued to allow the state run without any industries, raising the State’s level of poverty.
He promised to open the highways to the riverine areas so that jobs can be created.
Mr Aiyedatiwa however disagreed, saying there were already existing industries that had granted jobs to residents in the past few years.
He also promised to do more to create more jobs and increase growth in the state.
On education, Mr Ajayi lamented the state of education, saying there were only two teachers in the primary school in his village.
He said the incumbent governor was only mouthing the development of education, saying he would change the face of education when he becomes governor.
Governor Aiyedatiwa said he had embarked on massive renovation of schools and the hiring of teachers across the schools.