The Oyo State Government has declared that after 1995, no previous administration in the state placed premium on the purchase of water drilling rig in a bid to deliver safe and hygienic water to residents.
Making this declaration in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, on Thursday, was the Chairman of State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, Najeem Omirinde.
Omirinde, while reacting to a statement credited to former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, said the rigs that the latter claimed to have bought for the 33 local government councils in Oyo State, during his tenure, were procured with local government money and not from the state treasury.
The statement read that “It was clear that Alao-Akala never bought rigs for the state but used the local governments’ money to buy for each local government.”
Ominrinde had claimed, on Wednesday, that Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration procured new drilling machine for the state 25 years after the last purchase was made by the Oyo government.
It stressed further that the rigs that were bought by the former governor were “substandard toy rigs that didn’t last six months before they developed fault. The rigs RUWASSA has been using in the state were donated by UNICEF and Japan International Corporation Agency.
“Let’s put the record straight, Governor Makinde has made history as the first governor since 1995 that has approved the purchase of a standard, modern rig for Oyo RUWASSA. I wish to repeat it, no state administration bought rig for RUWASSA till now.
“What they claimed former governor Alao -Akala bought were ‘toy rigs’ bought from the account of the local government for the 33 local government areas then.
“The rigs RUWASSA has been using were donated by UNICEF and JICA and I am happy to tell you that those rigs are currently undergoing repair so as to serve the purpose of providing portable water alongside the one that has been ordered for by the government.
“I wish to add that the rigs bought during Alao-Akala period were not certified to be of good quality by Oyo State RUWASSA that has the authority to do that. Let the general public visit each local government council to see if any of those (rigs) is still working, or available.
“What Alao -Akala bought for the 33 local government areas from their accounts could not last in a basement region like Oyo State. You can only manage such machines in a water-filled area like Lagos. Here, the rig must be powerful to penetrate the rocky layers.”
