I Never Diverted Ogun LG Funds

The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, on Tuesday, denied the allegation that he was diverting the statutory Federal Allocation due to the state’s Local Governments in the last two years.

The governor said his administration had to augment the funds allocated to local governments in the state to enable the council chairmen to meet their obligations.

The Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State, Wale Adedayo had in a letter written to former Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba accused the governor of diverting the statutory allocations and over ten billion naira fund of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme.

Adedayo also claimed that the 10 per cent of the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, which the constitution also stipulated should go to the local governments has not been given since Abiodun got into office.

But the governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Lekan Adeniran said the LGs fund is being handled by the constitutionally recognised Joint Account and Allocation Committee.

Abiodun argued that the JAAC members ensure the council chairmen get the required allocations for optimal performance.

He added that over N5bn was shared among the 20 local government areas in the state, at the JAAC’s meeting held a week ago.

He added, “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.”

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