Ogun Gov, Abiodun Denies Allegation Of Diverting N10.8 Billion Council Funds

The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has denied the allegation of diverting over N10.8 billion statutory Federal Allocation due to the state’s Local Governments in the last two years.

According to him, his administration instead had to augment funds allocated to local governments in the state to enable the council chairmen to meet their obligations.

Naija News on Tuesday reported that Abiodun was accused of diverting two years of statutory Federal Allocation due to the state’s Local Governments.

The allegation was leveled against the governor by the Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State, Wale Adedayo.

According to him, over N10.8 billion from the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme was also diverted by the governor.

Adebayo alleged that the 10 percent of the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, which is constitutionally due to the local government, has not been given since Abiodun got into office as governor.

A factor he said contributed to the loss of some All Progressive Congress (APC) council seats in the last general election.

The allegation was contained in Adebayo’s letter addressed to former Governor Chief Olusegun Osoba and sighted by The Punch.

The Ijebu East Local Government Area Chairman claimed that denying local governments their due Federal Allocations in the State began during the Administration of former Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

However, the governor, in a swift response, has dismissed the allegations, saying local government fund is being handled by the constitutionally recognized Joint Account and Allocation Committee (JAAC) and that they ensure the council chairmen get the required allocations for optimal performance.

The governor, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Lekan Adeniran, on Tuesday, said over N5bn was shared among the 20 local government areas in the state at the JAAC’s meeting held a week ago.

The governor explained that the JAAC 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.

The state partly reads, “Between May 2023, when the Governor was sworn in for the second term, and July 2023, the JAAC shared among 20 local governments N4.531b, N4.444b, and N4.497b respectively on first line charges and just last week N5.2b was shared among the local governments for the month of August.

“The JAAC has the mandate to meet every month to ensure that allocations to local governments are discussed and properly presented for fund allocation.”