By John Dike, Osogbo
Osun State Government has debunked the reported water crisis and poor service delivery in some primary healthcare centres across the state as “erroneous, misleading, and politically motivated.”
In a statement issued on Sunday by Dr. Adekunle Akindele, Project Coordinator of the Osun Primary Healthcare Renovation Project Committee and Special Adviser on Public Health to Governor Ademola Adeleke, the government expressed shock over what it called “sensational and unbalanced reporting” by a famous online newspaper
Dr. Akindele noted that the condition of primary healthcare centres inherited by Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration in 2022 was deplorable—an issue that the online newspaper had previously reported in 2021 under the past administration.
“It is on this premise that Governor Ademola Adeleke set up a project working committee to revitalise and revamp the dire situation of those health centres,” the statement read.
One of the facilities highlighted in Sahara Reporters’ recent publication—the Odowara Primary Healthcare Centre in Ife-East Local Government—was described by the government as a facility that was initially in ruins before Adeleke assumed office.
According to the statement, the centre lacked basic medical amenities, had no dispensary despite conducting antenatal services, and relied solely on a traditional well (“kanga”) for water supply. The surroundings of the facility were reportedly unsafe, poorly maintained, and plagued by ongoing disputes between the community and health officials over land usage.
“It was the intervention of this government that provided pipe-borne water, a solar-powered energy system, and secured the facility with a perimeter fence to end long-standing hostility over land,” Dr. Akindele stated.
The government also claimed that the current administration upgraded infrastructure, addressed environmental hazards, and restored functionality to the facility, accusing the medium of ignoring available evidence—including before-and-after photographs—of its interventions.
“It is condescending to see a media outfit publish erroneous sensational stories without recourse to the government to balance their report. This is clearly a hatchet job, and we know where this is coming from,” the statement added, suggesting the report may be politically motivated ahead of the election season.
Despite the criticisms, Dr. Akindele reaffirmed the government’s commitment to improving healthcare delivery across the state, noting that renovation efforts continue in other facilities despite what he described as “illegal seizures of local government funds.”
He urged the public to disregard what he called “cheap blackmail,” assuring residents that Osun people are “too enlightened to be misled by such inaccurate narratives.”
