Past administration paid lip service to free trade zones, says Oyo govt

Ajimobi’s aide defects to PDP

THE Oyo State Government has said that the past administration paid lip service to the building of free trade zones in the state.

It, therefore, reiterated the commitment of the Seyi Makinde- led administration to revive them to revamp the economy of the state.

Chairman, Oyo State Investment and Public Private Partnership Agency, Mr. Segun Ogunwuyi, who disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Ibadan, said that the free trade zones were the next goldmine and cash cow after oil.

He said: “Previous government paid lip service to free trade zones. We as a government we are not interested in just talking about something but we are interested in people seeing it on ground.”

It would be recalled that the Abiola Ajimobi- led administration said it secured the commitment of $ 5 billion from China in the development of the newly- established free trade zone in the state.

In another development, the camp of the APC in Oyo State yesterday depleted following the defection of the former candidate of the party for the House of Representatives in Oyo State during the 2019 general election, Deji Aboderin, to the ruling People’s Democratic Party ( PDP).

Aboderin, who served as Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to former Governor Abiola Ajimobi, said the APC leadership worked against his electoral victory in the last election.

He said that he waited this long to assess the performance of the Makinde- led PDP administration before taking the decision.

The former aide said he was only going to the PDP as a forerunner ahead of some other aggrieved members who he claimed would switch allegiance soon.