Oyo Replies Alao, Debunks Rumour Of Allege Sales Of Water Pipes

Oyo State Water Corporation denied rumors over sales of water pipes.

News Rain gathered on Tuesday that the Chairman of the State Water Corporation, Dr. Adebayo Adepoju has cleared the air over the alleged sales of water pipes of the Corporation by some staff.

The rumour which has been circulating around the State since last week following the claims from the opposition party in the State.

The claim of sales of the water pipes, which emanated through a statement from the governorship candidate of the Alliance For Democratic Party at the 2019 gubernatorial election that was held in the state, Engr. Akeem Alao has been the talk of the town.

Meanwhile, his reaction to the claim, the Chairman of the Water Corporation Dr. Adepoju said through a statement that was made available to the journalists on Tuesday in Ibadan, the Capital City of Oyo  State, stated that there is no record of illegal sale of assets belonging to the corporation, contrary to claims by an opposition politician in the state.

Adepoju stressed that the corporation only embarked on an inventory-taking and auditing in order to ascertain and account for all the assets of the corporation.

Dr. Adepoju in the statement affirmed that contrary to claims by an opposition political party that the corporation is engaging in the illegal sale of water pipes, the corporation had only brought out the pipes in the scheme, which had laid fallow in the swamps, for proper counting, audit, and accountability.

The statement further indicated that the claims credited to a chieftain of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), were false and unfounded.

Adepoju said,  “The attention of the management and staff of the Water Corporation of Oyo State has been drawn to an online publication made by a chieftain of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) alleged illegal sale of water pipes by the management of the Water Corporation.

“While the corporation refutes the claim in its entirety, it has become extremely important to make this press release to keep the public well-informed.

“A few months ago, a committee was set up to audit all the assets and take an inventory of the corporation. Adepoju said.

Dr. Adepoju noted that the said pipes had been lying in the swamp for years, so they had to be brought out for proper counting, audit, and accountability. As a result of bringing out these pipes, there was an alarm that the pipes were being taken out for illegal sale.

“The management had earlier followed up on all information received and moved to properly secure the assets.

Some of the measures put in place include the replacement of the security outfit watching the scheme, the installation of solar-powered security surveillance cameras that can be viewed both on-site and remotely, and completion of the perimeter fencing of the scheme.”

The corporation’s boss further explained that the alarm raised about the illegal sale of pipes and the picture being circulated on the internet as portraying illegal sale were baseless, as the truck in the circulated picture was, indeed, that of those enlisted by the corporation to take the pipes from the swamps to another location for proper counting.

“Late last month, the chairman alerted the Joint Task Force (JTF) and the Operation Burst to the alarm raised by some persons that some pipes were being taken out of the scheme illegally.

“The response from the JTF, which included the Oyo State Road Transport Management Agency (OYRTMA), was swift and they found out that the truck in the viral picture, which was seen by the men of the Operation Burst and OYRTMA, was, indeed, authorized by the corporation to lift the pipes out of the swamp to another location.

“The truck got stuck in the mud at the location, which necessitated OYRTMA taking their heavy-duty towing vehicle to bring out the truck. This was the picture taken and being passed around as showing some people trying to illegally sell the state’s assets.

The alarm would have been deemed unnecessary but for the fact that the operators of the vehicle were sighted at the swamp on a weekend, which might have necessitated the wrong signals to members of the public.”

The corporation took exception to the claim in the fake story by the acclaimed AD chieftain that illegal sale resumed under the administration of the current chairman, Dr. Adepoju, saying that claim was ill-motivated and conceived to “assassinate his character and drag his integrity in the mud just to score a political point.”