President Bola Tinubu has asked governors to focus on building roads to enhance the activities of security agencies instead of erecting flyovers where there is little vehicular traffic.
Tinubu spoke on Thursday when he received a delegation of Oyo traditional rulers in Abuja, asking the governors to prioritise projects that impact the lives of the people and those that enhance the quality of life.
According to the president, with the increase in allocation to states, there is no excuse for governors at the moment, unlike what was obtainable in the past.
“You have governed before as governor. You need to help us communicate to these governors. Today, the economy of operation is high. But the money that I’m pushing to the state, if you had it during your own time or during my time, it would have been different,” Tinubu said while addressing the traditional rulers led by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, who is also a former governor of Oyo State.
“They are taking four to five times more money than in the past. Nobody is borrowing money to pay salaries now. Pensioners are receiving their pay and credit, and they should do more to — instead of flyover where there’s no numeric traffic — build road networks and arteries to really enhance the quality of life and accessibility of the security agencies to penetrate those areas.”
Tinubu also spoke about the abduction and rescue of students and teachers in the Oriire Local Government Area (LGA) of Oyo State. The abductees were freed after about 56 days in captivity.
Addressing the delegation at the Presidential Villa, the former governor maintained that no ransom was paid in the release of the kidnapped victims.
He said, “We refuse to negotiate for ransom. These criminals wanted us to release from detention members of their criminal gangs who had already been arrested. That was one of their conditions, apart from the money they were looking for, and we said, ‘No deal.’
“We are not going to negotiate with criminals. They committed murder, and we were ready to finish with them. They have families and members of their own communities. Some of them are non-Nigerians. You see… the problem of insecurity in Mali, Burkina Faso and the Niger Republic is adding more fuel to our challenges,” the president stated.
According to him, his administration is pushing for the creation of state police, which, in addition to the creation of more army divisions, will help address insecurity in the country.