Ekiti State Government has re-stated its commitment to transparency and accountability, stressing that the Freedom of Information law, which it domesticated last year, was put in place to subject its activities to public scrutiny and encourage citizens’ participation in governance.
It however faulted what it described as fraudulent composition of a shadow cabinet by the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying that the inability of the PDP leadership to identify members of the shadow cabinet is not only fraudulent, it is a reflection of the in-house confusion in the factionalised Ekiti PDP.
The state chairman of PDP, Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe, had announced the formation of a shadow cabinet with curious names such as “Mrs. Cowrie”, “Mr. Caterpillar”,” Mr. Paparazi” and “Mr. Farm”, as manning the shadow ministries of Finance, Works, Information and Agriculture respectively. They are reportedly mandated to monitor activities of the Dr Kayode Fayemi-led administration in seven critical ministries.
Reacting to the development in a statement in Ado-Ekiti, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Olayinka Oyebode, said every Ekiti citizen, regardless of their political leaning, is entitled to monitor or scrutinize activities of the government. “This is why we were the first state in the country to domesticate the Freedom of Information law, which gives the citizen unhindered access to information on government activities.”
According to the statement, “We welcome honest and constructive scrutiny of government activities and urge the PDP not to be afraid of unveiling the identities of the members of the said shadow cabinet. This, we believe, will give some credibility to their claims.
“The government receives feedbacks from many well meaning citizens of the state and these feedbacks are processed and put to good use. The PDP should also try to be honest and objective in their assessment and also ensure that their findings are verifiable.
“The Governor has always said he had nothing to hide and that is why the state’s website www.ekitistate.gov.ng was repackaged to make it more interactive so that more Ekiti citizens home and abroad will be able to access government activities and also make sundry contributions.
“But a situation where a group of faceless individuals are being paraded as members of a shadow cabinet of a party is not only suspicious, it points at one thing – fraud.
“It is this fraudulent approach to what ordinarily should be a novel decision that is a concern. Beyond that, it is a welcome development.”
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Last modified: May 22, 2012