Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun on Tuesday received in audience members of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) Ogun state chapter, who had gone to apologise over the remarks made by one of them, the Chairman of the Ijebu East Local Government, Mr Wale Adedayo who alleged the hijack of funds meant for the local government by the Governor.

The Governor on his X handle said “We have received in audience, members of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Ogun State Chapter, who came to tender their unreserved apology over the recent remarks made by one of them, Hon. Wale Adedayo.

ALGON Chiefs in a Meeting with Gov Abiodun

“Over the past four years, our administration has consistently demonstrated unwavering support for all twenty Local Government Areas within our state.

“We have worked diligently to create an enabling environment that empowers them to pursue diverse development initiatives, ultimately enhancing the quality of life for rural residents and our grassroots communities.

“Our commitment to elevating the standard of living and the overall well-being of our citizens remains resolute.

“We will continue to pursue a better society that fosters socio-economic development, striving for an even more prosperous future for all.

But the government of Ogun state also exercised its right of reply to the allegation by Mr. Wale Adedayo. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Mr Lekan Adeniran, claimed that instead of hijacking the local government funds, the State government has been augmenting what was allocated to them from the Federation Account to enable them to meet their obligations.

Recall that the Ijebu Local Government boss accused the Ogun state governor in a letter he wrote to the former governor of the state, Prince Olusegun Osoba of not remitting the federal allocations meant for twenty local governments to them, indicating that the failure of the state government to do this has made the local governments unable to perform their roles as expected.

Refuting the claim, the press secretary noted that the federal allocations for the state are usually handled by the Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC), which the local governments are part of, adding that the committee ensures that the third tier of the government gets their allocations every month.

Mr Lekan Adeniran further explained that the state JAAC in its recent meeting disbursed some money to the local government. He insisted that the state government paid N5 billion to the 20 local government areas, out of which over N2 billion was paid to the school teachers.

“The statement, further reads “ 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.

“It has the mandate to meet every month to ensure that allocations to local governments are discussed and properly presented for fund allocation.At such meetings, the state government makes full disclosure of the receipt from the federation account.

“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”

“In addition to these, the state government also disburse funds to all local governments for developmental projects periodically,”