PDP lawmakers ask Gov. Abidoun to provide proof he is not diverting LG funds

By Adejoke Adeleye, Ogun

Opposition lawmakers in Ogun House of Assembly have challenged Governor Dapo Abiodun to put more evidence in the public space to prove that he is not withholding the federal allocations to local governments in the state.

The lawmakers, in a statement signed by Minority Leader, Lukman Adeleye, said this while calling on Governor Abiodun to be more transparent in reacting to the accusation of the diversion of council funds in the state made against him by Chairman of Ijebu East Local government, Wale Adedayo.

Adedayo had in a petition to former governor and APC leader in Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) called for investigation of Abiodun for withholding and diverting allocations to local governments.

He claimed that councils in the state have been unable to execute projects as a result of the governor’s action

Lukman, in the statement, challenged the Governor to provide evidence that he has not been withholding statutory federal allocation and 10 per cent of the internally generated revenue of the state due to local governments in the last two years.

The lawmakers asked the Governor to put proofs of payments, receipts and other documents in the public domain to disprove the allegation against him

He added that local government councils must be allowed to thrive as a grassroots government of the people

He said, “As the representatives of the people, it behooves on the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP members in the house to be on the side of the people, unravel the true situation and act accordingly.”

“Truly, it would be bad if money meant to be used by the local government to make lives of the people better is being siphoned. By the time the assembly would start investigating, we would sure get to the end of this. ”

“There is an accusation, and as of now, unless we know the true situation, nothing can be done. Of course, before now, we have been asking questions as a party, and now these chairmen are re-echoing our stand. We won’t shy away from the complaints that the councils are handicapped to handle any projects as this seems visible. ”

“The chairmen of councils must help the people by coming forward to substantiate their allegations. This is not a party thing if we need to help our society. We must be ready to stand up for what is right, ” Adeleye stated.