The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on Governor Seyi Makinde to rescind the alleged decision to take over pieces of land belonging to some residents of Ibadan in the guise of creating setbacks for the ongoing circular road project.
According to the main opposition party in the state the ‘controversial’ project is expected to run through six local government areas in the outer parts of the state capital.
Controversies surrounding the announcement of 500 metres as setbacks on both sides of the 110kilometre stretch continue unabated as owners of properties on the affected portion of land groan in pains while pleading for leniency even as many of them have had their choice building demolished or marked for demolition by the agents of the state government.
The party’s State Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, in a statement issued on Monday and made available to journalists in Ibadan, queried the “rationale behind the determination of the Makinde administration to forcefully hijack over 24,700 acres of privately owned land when such action would render at least 170,000 families homeless and stranded at the end of the day.”
Sadare noted that, “To say the least, this is not only inhuman and cruel but it is also unacceptable.
“Tongues have been wagging on why a governor would alter the approved plan of a developmental project initiated by his predecessors to suit his own taste for feudalism in a democracy.”
The statement added that while members of the public do not have sufficient information about the progress made on the real construction of the circular road project apart from the fact that a whooping N300 billion was set aside as the cost, it alleged that Governor Makinde-led administration has prioritised grabbing of land belonging to poor citizens along the projected route for about two years now.
“Even as the state government claims the actions were being taken in the overriding public interest, certain questions on the exact developmental projects which are to be done on such expanse of land have not been answered by the governor or any of his men,” Sadare said.
He added that this lends credence to the submission from many quarters “that the development could be a wider repeat of what had been done to various land resources owned by either the government or private individuals/organisations forcefully hijacked and sold off by the agents of the governor in recent times.”
It further noted that the sale of BCOS Staff Quarters, ARCEDEM Estates in Wofun owned by ECOWAS, 80 per cent of land on which Agodi Gardens was located, Trans Amusement Park, among others still hurt the citizens of the state who are yet to come to term on why a government would decide to sell off public assets and heritage without any caution.
The party said these, it has become imperative for Governor Makinde to halt his alleged plan to hijack land and properties owned by hapless citizens “with a view to selling or transferring same to his friends and cohorts from other parts of the country who disguise as investors”.