MOST of the 33 former Caretaker Chairmen in Oyo state have been questioned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for alleged misappropriation and diversion of N363 million, findings have revealed.
The former Chairmen are being quizzed at the Ibadan office of the EFCC, following a petition that the Chairmen failed to utilise the Local Government Stabilisation Fund of N11 million per local government for security, but to prosecute the 2015 election.
It was gathered that some Heads of Local Government Administration, Directors of Administration and Finance are also being invited to present documents of finances and administration of their local government areas.
In the petition, it was alleged that, between March 23 and March 25, 2015, the local government Chairmen, in connivance with some state government officials, diverted the fund for other purposes.
From the said N363 million, each local government was said to have deposited N10 million with the then Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) for some logistics before, during and after the election.
Furthermore, the funds were said to have been deposited as a pool for the sustainability of government officials should the 2015 election not turn out favourable.
Among the allegations against the former Chairmen is that funds have been utilized for personal purposes such as acquiring filling stations, a big estate, and that a local government Chairman obtained tenement rates from big manufacturing companies without remitting the money into the local government account.
All efforts to reach Head of Public Affairs, EFCC, Ibadan zonal office, Mr Ayo Oyewole, on the issue, proved abortive.
Meanwhile, one of the affected local government Chairmen has tagged the petition as political blackmail by some former Ibadan Chairman and the opposition to rubbish the Governor Abiola Ajimobi government.
He said the petition was sponsored by some former political appointees who were aggrieved that they were being shut out in the scheme of political events and were fighting back.
He said that each local government received a statutory sum of N11 million which was used for security and not for election, describing allegation that they donated some sum to one local government Chairman for keeps as incredible.