Mr Abiodun Oladapo was Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Computer Services in Osun State during the administration of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola. The new government in Osun State declared recently that N2.5 billion was missing under his leadership. He recently spoke with newsmen in Osogbo, giving his own side of the story. Assistant Editor, Adeolu Adeyemo, brings excerpts:CAN we have your defence on the allegation that the sum of N2.5billion got missing while you superintended over the Bureau of Computers in Osun State'It was a surprise for me to hear that allegation because all the monies, of all descriptions, that were made available to the bureau under me from 2005 till March 4, 2011, when I retired from service after 35 years of meritorious service, were not up to two billion naira. How therefore could anybody commit a fraud of N2.5billion from an amount that was less than N2billion'I have since requested the state government to oblige me a copy of the report of the panel that allegedly discovered the N2.5billion fraud. Since up till now, I do not have any details of the report, aside what I read in the newspapers. It was from the money given to the bureau that salaries were paid and ICT items and services were procured and installed in the bureau, all ministries, departments and agencies as well as in all the 30 local government council secretariats and the Area Office, all from the less than N2 billion that came to the bureau. I will also add that fibre connectivity across the ministries, departments, agencies (MDAs) and all official quarters, wireless connectivity of all remote stations, some thousands personal computers, laptops, tablets, printers, software, state-of-the-art blade servers, solar and wind mill powers installations, inverters across ministries, departments, agencies (MDAs) and local governments were bought from the same money. All local government councils' ICT centres were provided with generators and masts, hoping to build a state wide area network (WAN) to provide the required backbone for the rapid socio ' economic development the state was vehemently yearning for as well as assisting the security agencies to have real time security intelligent information and effective tracking capability. We set the centres up from the scratch as their staff enjoyed series of long-time trainings as starters, including resident'hands-on training; so that in a short while, they could stand on their own. We also scrutinised the personnel records of agencies including all teachers and staff of parastatals as well as she staff of our higher Institutions and issued all cleared staff computerised ID card with the view to developing the database to a fully fledged computerised personnel information management system. The money, apart from procuring the items and services, was also expended on salaries, running costs and capital projects for over six years. Again, all the monies, of all descriptions, that were made available to the bureau under me were not up to two billion naira; after deducting all these, the mathematics to arrive at the so-called N2.5billion fraud is beyond my understanding. But as the saying goes, a rival hunter never kills a worthwhile game.Who do you think is behind your ordeal and why do you think anyone would want to do you in afterall, you are not a politician' There were some entrenched interests, people who never wanted Prince Oyinlola to give me the appointment when he did. I think my major offence against my enemies was that I did not allow them to fleece the state as they would have wanted to. They considered my presence a threat and the offer for my service to be extended had to be resisted by all the powers and means at their disposal; hence the cohort's resolve to totally and permanently destroy my person.I also wish to state that these my enemies were not after my person alone, but had even gone a mile further by summarily dismissing some of the best hands I recruited for the bureau out of service, claiming that they were my loyalists, as their presence might reveal these facts. My only concern is that my state would suffer for it, and that the deed would have been done before My Dear Mr. Governor would realise it.These people also ensured that the services of all installations that were working fine up till the time the probe commenced, were disrupted to create the impression that nothing was working or that nothing remarkable on ICT was on ground.The new 'experts' started engaging strange technical propositions, which resulted in poor ICT service performance. One might want to ask what was the state of performance of the ICT Infrastructure and services before this adventure; and what is the current situation now' A ten-minute simple survey of users would convince you that before the manifestation of this concluding aspect of their grand design, the ICT services were okay both at the state and local government levels.They also engaged strange costing method in deriving cost implication of projects. For instance, because the fiber'optic internet service in recent times became cheaper than the satellite, they made the state government to believe we were supposed to have used fiber'optic-based internet access, as against the satellite, as if the fiber-optic internet option was available in all the local government council areas across the state. They frustrated the emerging intranet connectivity across all the local government council secretariats that was to be used for e ' Governance to further increase public service delivery efficiency and thereby reduce cost of governance.The 24/7 alternative security light for Bola Ige office complex and perimeter fence andmajor roads within the secretariat were up and running fine up till the time when the probe commenced. Theyensured that they got the government to set up a panel of enquiry to submit its report within two weeks of 8th March, 2011 and that I should NOT leave Osun State pending the conclusion of the enquiry, but we are now in November.But you were also accused of not executing installation of internet facilities for the Free Trade Zone'On the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) internet, it is very interesting to note that neither myself, as the head of the Bureau of Computer Services nor any of those working under me, was invited for any questioning by any panel, be it the Contract Review Committee (CRC) or any other one to explain how the fund meant for the internet provision for the FTZ was spent. Yet, it was concluded by the investigating panel, according to media reports that the project was never executed, and a white paper had been so issued.Throughout the meetings I had with the panel that reviewed the activities of the bureau from 2005 to 2011, at no time did anybody raise the issue of any N2.5billion fraud or that of the FTZ with me. For the sake of justice and fair-hearing, I felt the issue could have been raised at the panel level, where I should have stated my own side of the story, instead of springing up a surprise by rushing to the press over the unfounded 'discovery'. As at the time the equipment was procured, the FTZ had no accommodation yet for the internet facilities that needed to be housed and since this was the case, the equipment was then installed at the bureau, while those items meant for the FTZ that could not be installed were then taken to the store for safe-keeping. At this stage, the FTZ internet service was provided from the bureau, while all the consumables and other items including the mast that could be installed within the FTZ premises were installed.In view of this development, I wish to humbly request our dear Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who I know to be an ardent believer in justice and fairness and the good people of Osun State to pay a visit to the bureau and endeavour to take, even if it is just a cursory inspection tour across all the ministries, departments, agencies, local government council secretariats across Osun State and verify all my claims and see whether the internet equipment and other materials procured and services provided within 2005 and March 4, 2011 do not meet up with the costs attached to them.I wish to state that the services, provided by the bureau under my supervision, was the first of its kind throughout the country. Some states from other geo-political zones in the country and the Federal Government, before the advent of the current administration in the state, had sent various delegations to the bureau with a view to replicating such projects in their respective states. The records to this effect are there to testify to this.
Click here to read full news..
