Members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP on Wednesday, visited Gov. Seyi Makinde to commiserate with him and people of Oyo State over the Jan. 16 explosion in Ibadan.
The BoT led by its chairman, Sen. Adolphus Wabara, met the governor at his office, State Secretariat Agodi, Ibadan.
Wabara commended Makinde on behalf of the board for his prompt response to the unfortunate incident and for showing his prowess as an engineer, by directing that a structural integrity test be conducted on about 230 buildings in the affected area.
He expressed the BoT’s condolences to the governor and the government of the state as well as families, who lost loved ones to the incident.
Wabara called for thorough investigation to unravel the cause of the incident in order to avoid a recurrence of such incidents in the country.
In his response, Makinde appreciated the body for the visit which he described as encouraging, noting that it indicated that the body was looking out for his government.
He intimated the visitors that his government had been working out a long-term solution to the challenges posed by the incident, assuring that the state and its people affected in the explosion would come out stronger.
According to the governor, government has been battling with the fallout of the incident, including providing medical attention to casualties, providing temporary accommodation to victims and dealing with the security aspect of the incident.
“There has also been the humanitarian side of things, especially with regards to children affected by the incident, who are supposed to be in school.
“So, you need to keep encouraging us and supporting us where possible as well as keep praying for us,” he said.
Makinde also used the opportunity of the visit to pledge his support for the unity of PDP, saying he would continue to play a positive role toward ensuring that the party became united and formidable
He charged the BoT members to put in the work toward steering the party in the right direction.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that all the BoT members later visited the scene of the explosion at Bodija where they offered prayers for the departed souls and injured victims