The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has berated Governor Ademola Adeleke for approving a ₦678m contract for the reconstruction of the Sango-Timi Shrine and Grove at the Timi’s Palace, Ede.
In a statement issued on Thursday by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, the opposition party described the project as “a misplaced priority and an act of favouritism,” alleging that the governor only added other heritage sites to the state’s tourism plan after public outrage greeted the Ede shrine contract.
According to the APC, the subsequent inclusion of historical sites in Osogbo, Ilesa and Ile-Ife was “an afterthought” designed to pacify critics.
“Why was it that it was after the governor’s award of the ₦678 million contract for the Sango Shrine in his town received wide condemnation that he thought of naming other historical tourist attraction sites across the state to be developed in phases?” the statement queried.
The party further argued that the investment in the shrine project offered no immediate economic value compared to pressing needs in the state. It cited the ₦376m released as education subsidy in the first half of the year as evidence that the shrine budget dwarfed allocations to essential services.
It also raised concerns about workers’ welfare, pointing out that out of the ₦6bn earmarked for gratuity arrears in 2025, no money had been released by midyear. It added that only ₦500m, representing 11.1 per cent of the ₦4.5bn budgeted, had been disbursed for gratuity payments, while ₦998m, about 14.3 per cent of ₦7bn, had been released for the Contributory Pension Scheme.
The party accused Governor Adeleke of favouring his hometown in project allocation, stating that seven dual carriageway projects worth over ₦70bn were already sited in Ede alone, while uncompleted works in Ife, Osogbo and Ilesa had been abandoned.
It recalled that Adeleke’s pledge to deliver five flyovers within 12 months was yet to materialise almost two years later, with two not yet started and three still unfinished.
However, Adeleke, through his spokesperson Olawale Rasheed, defended the move on Wednesday, insisting that his administration had approved upgrades for tourism sites in Osogbo, Ilesa, Ile-Ife and Ede.
According to the governor, the initiative is part of his cultural and creative industry expansion drive, with the goal of securing UNESCO recognition and boosting tourist inflow by over 60 per cent in the next year.
