Ogun Local Govt funding: APC, PDP trade words on alleged fund diversion
…Governor Abiodun debunks allegation
…Adebutu demands for Gov Abiodun’s impeachment
…APC describes PDP, Adebutu as opportunist seeking to distract Abiodun
By Bankole Taiwo
Following allegations by the Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government, Mr Wale Adedayo, alleging zero revenue allocation to local governments in the state since 2021, the Ogun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have engaged in a war of words.
The Governorship candidate of the PDP in the last general elections, Hon. Ladi Adebutu has called for the impeachment of governor Dapo Abiodun for allegedly diverting the statutory Federal Allocation due to the state’s Local Governments in the last two years.
Recall that the Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State, Wale Adedayo has written petitions to the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) calling for the investigation of the Governor over alleged diversion of local government funds.
Hon. Adebutu, who spoke through his Media aide, Afolabi Orekoya made this call while addressing journalists over the purported letter written by Wale Adedayo, the Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government on allegations of zero allocation to the local governments in the state.
Adebutu called on members of the State House of Assembly to investigate Abiodun and commence impeachment process of the governor if found guilty.
He said that the governor has violated the constitution and committed an impeachable offense, hence, he must be punished.
Adebutu said, “The local government chairman has also written a letter to the Speaker of the House of Assembly which we believe that the Speaker will not sweep the letter under the carpet because he is one of the team members of the governor.
“This is purely an impeachable offense, if this is found to be true, it is an impeachable offense and we are really watching the House of Assembly members to see how they are going to follow this through and to see their action and steps they will take when this letter is brought to the floor of the House.
“Thank God we are not having the usual rubber stamp House of Assembly in Ogun state now. We have very responsible, very committed members of PDP who are also in the House of Assembly now and I’m sure from what we have heard from our members this morning they are already taking steps to ensure that the Rule of Law is being followed on this matter.
“We believe that he will bring the letter out and read on the floor of the House and we believe the members of the House will do the needful.”
Adebutu noted that the local government chairman’s outburst has confirmed his allegation of diversion of N153billion local government funds by Abiodun.
He also called on the anti-graft agencies to investigate Abiodun for allegedly embezzling local government funds.
Adebutu lamented that the Abiodun-led administration has rendered local government administration redundant and stifled the development at the grassroots level.
“The money that was meant to be used by the local government to make the lives of the people better is being siphoned. If you go around Ogun state, all the trunk C roads, local government roads are in terrible states.
“The local government chairmen are just sitting down warming the benches at their respective local governments. We are very glad that this is coming from a serving local government chairman, we have been vindicated.
“The truth has actually prevailed, we will follow this through, the party and my principal will follow this through the petitions he has written to EFCC and ICPC to ensure that they actually act on and these petitions are not swept under the carpet.
“We want EFCC and the ICPC who have received the letters from the Chairman of the Ijebu East local government area in Ogun state to act and beam their searchlight into what has happened to the N153b of Ogun state local government since the inception of Dapo Abiodun – led administration,” Adebutu said.
Responding to Adebutu, Tunde Oladunjoye the APC Ogun State Publicity Secretary in a statement described Adebutu and the PDP as opportunist seeking to distract the Governor.
The party described as “uninformed muckracking” a call by the Peoples Democratic Party (Party) and its candidate in the last governorship election over unsubstantiated allegations on LG fund.
According to the statement, the APC said “a sinking man in the sea who will jump at anything, including a straw, the PDP Ogun State has jumped into the fray of the current discussion on Local Government allocation in the state.”
The statement reads, “One would have expected a serious party to make investigation and access credible data before commenting, but not surprisingly, the PDP and its defeated governorship candidate, Hon. Ladi Adebutu, who is currently a fugitive in UK, jumped into the fray with an opportunistic agenda asking for the “impeachment” of Governor Dapo Abiodun.”
“The state government has rightly made its position known on the issue and awaits due process of the law, especially when the character involved claimed to have written a petition to the relevant agencies of the federal government.
“It is obvious that the PDP, whose government in Ogun State broke the records of maladministration and thuggery, assumes that Ogun people have forgotten and that the present government will be like theirs of ignoble past. A party that recently boasted of victory at the Tribunal, no longer wants to wait; it’s now singing a song of ‘impeachment.’
“We urge discerning people of Ogun State to ignore the machinations of these sore losers, and who were roundly rejected by Ogun people at the last general elections, despite the 200,000 preloaded Verve ATM cards used for vote buying.
“The remarkable feats of the current Administration is attested to by the good people of Ogun State and no amount of political gang-up, and propaganda will distract Prince Dapo Abiodun and his team.”
Similarly, Governor Dapo Abiodun on Tuesday, said that the administration has often had to augment the funds allocated to local governments in the state from the Federation Account to enable them to meet their obligations.
The government, in its reaction said it had never tampered with local government funds.
It wondered how adding to the funds allocated to the local councils to enable them to meet their obligations amounted to hijacking their funds.
It said that funds meant for local governments in the state are being handled by the constitutionally recognised Joint Account and Allocation Committee (JAAC).
In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the state governor, Mr Lekan Adeniran, the government said that JAAC members ensure that the third tier of government gets the required allocations for optimal performance.
It noted that the latest meeting by the JAAC was held last week, and was widely reported in the media.
At the meeting, which was held at the Conference Hall, Oba’s Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, over N5billion was shared among the 20 local government areas, out of which over N2 billion went into paying teachers.
“Between May 2023 when the Governor was sworn in for the second term and July 2023, the JAAC shared among 20 local governments N4.531billion, N4.444billion and N4.497billion respectively on first line charges and just last week N5.2billion was shared among the local governments for the month of August,” the statement said.
The JAAC, according to the statement, comprises major stakeholders in local government administration, including the Chief Economic Adviser to the governor, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Accountant General of the State, Permanent Secretary, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, all 20 local government chairmen, one representative from each of the four Traditional Councils in the state, representative of SUBEB, NULGE, local govt pensioners, retired primary school teachers, Local Government Service Commission, Local Government Pension Commission and NUT.
It has the mandate to meet every month to ensure that allocations to local governments are discussed and properly presented for fund allocation.
At such meetings, the state government makes full disclosure of the receipt from the federation account.
“First-line charges, including local government staff salaries and pensions; primary school teachers’ salaries and pensions; healthcare workers’ salaries and pensions and emoluments for traditional rulers are tabled for discussion and fund allocation at the JAAC meetings,” the statement said.
The statement added that this same pattern has been followed since Prince Dapo Abiodun took over the leadership of the state in 2019.
Gov. Abiodun, the statement said, recently directed the local governments to identify critical roads that required government attention in their domains, with some already commissioned.
In the same vein, many schools have been rehabilitated, while others are undergoing renovation.
“In addition to these, the state government also disburse funds to all local governments for developmental projects periodically,” the statement added.
