In order to fulfill his promise to the people that he would make details of his assets public upon assumption of office, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde on Monday made public his asset, calling on any interested members of the public to verify the same with the Code of Conduct Bureau.
The Governor, who visited the Oyo state office of the CCB in Ibadan to receive a copy of the asset declaration form he submitted earlier said that his decision to make the assets public was in fulfillment of a personal promise he made during the elections and also give them a basis to crosscheck after he might have finished serving them as the governor.
Details of the assets as contained in the CCB 1 deposited with the bureau in the name Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde, which was declared at the High Court of Oyo State, on May 28, 2019, indicated that the Governor is worth about N50billion in assets.
The assets declaration form, marked OYSE/2019/001 contained details of cash at hand, in the bank, landed properties (developed and undeveloped), household items, share and bonds owed by the Governor, his wife, Omini Makinde as well as his companies.
According to details of the asset form made public by the Chief Press Secretary to Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, the Governor of Oyo State had cash at hand and in the bank worth N234, 742,296.01, as at May 28, 2019.
In dollar terms, the Governor has cash valued at $30,056.99 as at the same date.
Properties, including the developed and undeveloped as well as household items indicated on the asset forms, showed that the Governor is worth N2, 624,800,500 (two billion, six hundred and twenty-four million, eight hundred thousand, five hundred Naira) as at the date of asset declaration.
In Dollar terms, the Governor also declared properties, developed and undeveloped as well as household items valued at $4,400,000 (four million, four hundred thousand dollars only.
In South African Rands, the Governor declared buildings and household items worth four Million, four hundred and fifty-seven thousand, five hundred and fifty-four and four South African Rands.
The houses declared by the Governor include nine buildings in Nigeria, two in the United States of America and one in South Africa.
One of the properties in the United States is described as “jointly owned.”
The details showed the current value of Makinde’s companies stand at N48, 150,736,889 (forty-eight billion, one hundred and fifty million, seven hundred and thirty-six thousand, eight hundred and eighty-nine Naira), with 33,730,000 units of shares as at May 28, 2019.
The Governor also has existing Bonds (Eurobond) worth $3,793, 500 as well as shares, debentures and other securities valued at N120,500,000 (One hundred and twenty million, five hundred thousand naira).
The companies listed by the Governor include Makon Engineering and Technical Services Limited; Energy Traders and Technical Services Limited; Makon Oil and Gas Limited; Makon Group Limited, Makon Construction Limited and Makon Power System Limited.
The asset declaration form indicated that Governor Makinde’s four companies have additional assets denominated as loan notes including Makon Engineering and Technical Services Limited (N1.7 billion); Makon Power System Limited (N148.4 million); Makon Oil and Gas Limited (N341 million); Energy Traders and Technical Services Limited (N1.159bn) totaling N3.389 billion.
The Governor who was at the CCB said he visited to get his copy of the form duly signed as an attestation that anyone could assess the document through the freedom of information Act on details of his asset, just like he promised to do during the campaign period.
Makinde said: “I came here to collect the photocopy of the form that I signed in fulfillment of my campaign promise to the people that I will declare my asset publicly and release the document to the public.
“I will encourage all the members of my cabinet to do the same thing but in as much as they stay within the ambit of the law, I will encourage them to do the same.”
In a similar development, Engr Makinde, has approved the appointment of Prince Dotun Oyelade as the Executive Chairman of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS).
A statement by Governor Makinde’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, on Monday indicated that Prince Oyelade’s appointment takes immediate effect.
Prince Oyelade is a Broadcaster of note who has held similar positions in previous administrations and was the spokesman of the Omituntun Campaign Organisation, which midwife the election of Engineer Seyi Makinde as Governor of Oyo State.
The statement indicated further that Governor Makinde appointed Oyelade in order to reposition the broadcasting house to meet the modern communication needs of the state in the new dispensation.
The veteran Broadcaster had worked at NTA Ibadan 1977-82 before he joined BCOS as Head of Reportorial and voluntarily withdrew his services in 1988 as acting controller of news.
He worked as General Manager of Fountain Publications and Marketing Manager Spectrum Books between 1988 and 1992 before setting up his own Communications and Publishing business.
As an author, he has nine publications to his name.
A member of the International Press Institute, Geneva, Prince Oyelade studied in Nigeria, Britain and the United States of America.
He was Private Secretary to Governor Lamidi Onaolapo Adesina in 1999 to 2003 and Special Adviser on Public Communications to Governor Alao Akala between 2007 and 2011.
Governor Seyi Makinde emphasised his confidence in Prince Oyelade to bring his wealth of experience to turn the fortunes of BCOS around in the shortest possible time so as to make the station one of the best Television and Radio outfits in the country.
Packaged by Ojo Peter
