Gov Adeleke Withdraws Palliative Buses over Mechanical Problems

The refurbished palliatives buses injected into the Osun State Transportation System, a few weeks ago, by the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke have been withdrawn.

The palliative buses were deployed around what the state government called strategic points to lift commuters, as part of the state government's effort to ease the effect of the oil subsidy removal by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Recall that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had released billions of naira to the Osun State Government with the intent to, throughout the state government, ameliorate the welfare of the people amidst the oil subsidy removal and its effect.

Governor Ademola Adeleke decided to refurbish the buses purchased sometime around 2014 by the administration of the former Governor of the state, Rauf Aregbesola and converted them to Palliative Buses.

However, the decision taken by the Adeleke-led Osun State government was opposed by Alhaji Jamiu Olawumi, a former education adviser to past Governor of the State, Adegboyega Oyetola.

Olawumi claimed that the Adeleke-led Osun State Government did not do its homework properly and the decision to refurbish the abandoned buses was out-of-thought, uneconomical, and a total waste of the state's scarce resources.

He argued that the buses were abandoned by the administration of Gboyega Oyetola after discovering that the amount it would take to refurbish the vehicle and make it sustainable would surpass the amount it would take to buy a new set of buses. 

He said "Any attempt to spend any amount in the name of refurbishing the buses will amount to waste of money as the buses will still not serve its purpose.

Giving a profile of the buses and how the administration of Oyetola decided not to waste Osun money on its refurbishment,  Olawumi said, "The buses were purchased around 2014 by former Governor Rauf Aregbesola. They were bought purposely to convey people for political campaigns for the second term reelection of Aregbesola in 2014, however, the buses were [dubiously] placed under the pretense of conveying Osun State High School Students and were codenamed 'Omoluabi Scholar Buses'."

He recalled that two sets of the vehicle were purchased, the first set failed to work after delivery to the State Government, then the administration of Rauf Aregbesola decided to order another set which only worked for the duration of the electioneering campaign, and a few months after the election.

The Round Table later learned that the buses developed mechanical faults even before the expiration of the tenure of the administration of Rauf Aregbesola and he refused to refurbish them, probably, because of the reason sighted by Olawumi.

Giving the reason for the withdrawal of the service of the buses which was re-codenamed "Imole De" by the administration of Ademola Adeleke, the state Commissioner for Transportation, Sesan Oyedele, claimed that "the buses were sidelined due to a lack of passengers.

Another source revealed to The Round Table that the buses were withdrawn because the state government is unable to maintain the buses with the revenue generated from its operation.

Recall that Governor Ademola Adeleke announced the deployment of 19 “Imole Buses” on November 21, 2023. The bus disappeared from the street in the first week of December 2023 but later reappeared around December 25th only to be used by a Church for their road walk crusade around the Osogbo capital city of the state.