Ondo rejects StatiSense rating, calls assessment contrived
By Boye Oyeyemi
The Ondo State Government has faulted a recent performance assessment by artificial intelligence data firm, StatiSense, on Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s administration describing the report as misleading and detached from the realities of governance in the state.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, said the appraisal, published by The Guardian, failed to reflect the government’s achievements across key sectors, including health, education, infrastructure, agriculture and security.
According to him, the report contradicted verifiable data from recognised institutions, particularly the Debt Management Office, which showed that Ondo reduced its domestic debt from ₦74 billion in 2023 to ₦12 billion in 2024, representing an 82.6 per cent reduction while also clearing salary arrears and pension liabilities.
“The publication by StatiSense is clearly at variance with the verifiable outcomes of governance in Ondo State. It is an outright misrepresentation of facts and further reinforces our concerns about the report’s subjective posture,” Adeniyan said.
The government also defended its record in the health sector, saying it had recruited over 1,000 health workers, implemented enhanced CONMESS and CONHESS salary structures, approved a ₦1 billion hospital intervention fund and renovated more than 100 primary healthcare centres. It added that Ondo ranked among the best-performing states in maternal and child health indicators in the latest Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.
On infrastructure and education, the government said more than 100 kilometres of roads had been completed, with major dualisation projects ongoing, while over 2,000 teachers had been recruited, schools renovated and scholarships, bursaries and free WAEC registration sustained to improve access to education.
Adeniyan further said the administration had expanded investments in water supply, electricity, agriculture and industrialisation through projects such as the Owena Dam rehabilitation, hydropower and gas-fired electricity schemes, the Ondo Deep Sea Port initiative and the proposed Dangote industrial zone, alongside over ₦10 billion committed to agricultural development.
He maintained that the administration had also strengthened security through the recruitment of 500 Amotekun personnel, distribution of over 100 operational vehicles to security agencies and the creation of over a thousand jobs in the public sector, insisting that the government’s performance could not be accurately represented by what he described as a “contrived” assessment.
