On Wednesday, Hon. Kayode Akinmade, the chief media advisor to Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, claimed that Mr. Wale Adedayo’s claim that the governor had diverted local government funds was driven by politics.
Contrary to the erroneous claim, he claimed, the Governor had added N17 billion to multiple shortages in allocations to Local Governments from the Federation Account since the start of his administration in 2019.
Speaking in an interview for the Facts File programme on Raypower FM as well as the Yoruba version on Faaji FM, Akinmade stated that Adedayo was seeking to harm Governor Dapo Abiodun’s reputation for local political reasons.
According to the recent revision to the regulations that are now in place regarding allocations to the third tier of government, he pointed out that allocations to Local Governments continue to be essentially inaccessible by any State Governor.
This was the result of protests from some local government chairmen, he claimed.
According to the media expert, a special committee called the Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC), which is made up of the 20 local government chairmen from across the state as well as representatives from NULGE, NUT, and traditional institutions, was mandated by law to decide on the formula for sharing without the governor’s involvement.
Contrary to Adedayo’s claim of diversion, Akinmade voluminously recited the sequence of allocations to local governments since the start of Prince Dapo Abiodun’s administration in 2019, showing a series of interventions by the Governor to augment several shortfalls caused by shortfall in federal allocations.
“The drop in State funding is not unique to Ogun State, and I can prove it to you with numbers and facts by saying that between 2019 and 2021 and 2022, Governor Dapo Abiodun had to make up the N17 billion shortfall in all Local Government funding.
“For instance, in July 2019, Ogun State received merely N3.4 billion in allocation, but first line expenses totaled N3.5 billion and PAYE, which was required to be paid to the government, came to N146 million. Similar increases were required by the government in August, September, and so forth. The allowance was N3.2 billion in August of that year, but the wage bill was N3.3 billion. The government was required to make up the N900 million shortfall.
When the new administration took office in May, the subsidy was removed, and the allocation increased to around N4.5 billion, according to Akinmade. “The government continued to augment these allocations to ensure that workers in the local governments were not left out from regular payment of salaries,” he said.
Akinmade responded to the possibility that there was a communication breakdown between the Governor and Wale Adedayo, which may have influenced the latter’s behaviour, by claiming that the impeached Council Chairman had open access to the Governor due to their long-standing friendship.
“I have known the Governor and Wale Adedayo since 1996,” he said. I was told by him that Governor Dapo Abiodun was his brother and that they both originated from the same region.
“I later discovered that Wale Adedayo is one of those individuals the Governor adored. Before helping him become the chairman of his local government, he first hired him as his media consultant. He is among those who has three daily calls to the Governor.
He attended 15 of the 25 JAAC meetings that have been conducted since Adedayo became Chairman, therefore he cannot say that he was unaware of how allocations were made because he was always involved in the process.
“Also, this is the man who received N3 million in security votes each month, and despite that, he was impeached by the council’s MPs because he was unable to account for the N5.2 million he received from the Council to carry out a project.
Meanwhile, I just want to be clear that he needs to provide proof for the false accusation he made against the Governor. He is a journalist after all. He is fully aware that anyone making an accusation must be prepared to back it up.
“He should be ready to face the consequences if he fails to present evidence and prove the allegation he made against Governor Abiodun,” said Akinmade.
