•Beg Gov Abiodun

By James Ogunnaike

LOCAL Government Area Chairmen in Ogun State, yesterday, denied the allegation that the state government had been diverting their funds, resulting in zero allocation to them, as alleged by the Chairman of Ijebu East council area, Mr Wale Adedayo.

The Chairmen disclosed this, on Tuesday night, when they visited Governor Dapo Abiodun with Mr Adedayo, who made the allegation, to tender an unreserved apology, noting that they accepted that mistakes had been made.

The meeting, held at the Governor’s office at Oke-Mosan in Abeokuta, was attended by 18 out of the 20 Chairmen.

In his remarks, the Chairman of Ijebu-Ode Local Government, who also doubles as the chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, ALGON, Mr Babatunde Gazal, told the governor that the visit was to beg for forgiveness.

Gazal acknowledged that in May, N4.5 billion was shared by the 20 council areas. In June, N4.4 billion was shared, while July also saw the sharing of N4.4 billion. In August, N5.2bn was shared.

Speaking in an interview later, Gazal said: “We came to see the governor to discuss the grey areas and today, all sides are better off. We have seen the lighter sides of the grey areas and all those issues have been resolved amicably. The governor has assured us that local government will continue to witness development till the end of his tenure.”

I’m surprised at Adedayo’s allegation—Abiodun

In his response, Governor Abiodun expressed surprise at the allegation.

His words: “Where there is no information, there is misinformation. When I read in the news media yesterday that I, Adedapo Abiodun, the privileged Executive Governor of this state for the second term, is being accused of diverting funds meant for a local government, I said to myself perhaps, it must be another Adedapo Abiodun and not me.

“God knows that this job, I am doing it with every iota of sincerity of purpose. I continue to ensure that I am guided by all the promises I made in the course of my journey to the governor’s office. I continue to remind myself that I am holding this public office on trust as a trustee for and on behalf of all sons and daughters of this state and I will continue to be dogged, irrevocably committed to developing every part of this state equitably and fairly.

“I will continue to respect that besides the state government, there is also another tier and we are charged with the responsibility of building the future of this state.”

I stand by my letter —LG boss

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Ijebu East council area, Mr Adedayo, yesterday, distanced himself from the decision of his colleagues to apologize over his allegations.

In a telephone chat with Vanguard, he said: “Have you seen any letter of retraction from the writer of the letter or did you see any video where the writer of the letter is making any retraction? So leave them with their propaganda.”