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Furore over alleged Ogun LGs’ zero allocations

Olayinka Olukoya writes on the ripples trailing the letter written by a local government chairman in Ogun State against the state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, accusing him of diverting local government allocations.

LOCAL government is statutorily recognized as the third level of government in the country. Its functions are explicitly spelt out in the Nigerian Constitution. Being the closest tier of government to the people, local government is central and critical in bringing and promoting all the niceties of good governance and quality leadership at the grassroots. However, local government administration remains a subject of debate and controversy due to a number of factors, some of which include quality of leadership, stranglehold by states, lack of transparency and accountability in managing public resources. Against the background, local governments are most times in the news for the wrong reasons.

Last week, Ogun State was in the news over an allegation by one of the chairmen of the 20 Local Government Areas that since 2021, council areas in the state had been receiving zero allocation from the Federal Government through the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration. The chairman of Ijebu East Local Government, Honourable Wale Adedayo, had in a letter addressed to a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governor of the state, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, as well as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu harped on the need to convince Governor Abiodun to allow the statutory allocation from the centre to reach the local governments as envisaged in the 1999 Constitution.

Adedayo, who has since been suspended by councillors in his local government over allegations of financial misappropriation, among others, in the letter and petition, insisted that each of the LG in the state had been on zero federal allocation.

Another allegation he raised in the documents was that 10 percent of the state’s internally generated revenue, which according to him was stipulated in the Constitution to go to the local government purse, had not been paid by the current state government since it came into existence. He attributed the failure of the APC in winning in some local government areas in the state during the last March 18 governorship and Assembly elections to non-availability of funds to carry out projects. This expose by the embattled chairman who has been placed on three months’ suspension, is eliciting widespread discussion among not only the residents of the state, but Nigerians in particular, about local government administrations across the country vis-à-vis their functions as the third level of government.

In his letter, Adedayo claimed that some certain amount of money was released to the state government by the immediate past administration in the country as palliatives and the whereabouts of the monies received by the state government remained unknown till date.Part of it read: “Your Excellency, this letter should have been written about two years ago. But I was wary of what many naive people would say about me. Besides, at your age and given the level of your selfless contributions to the development of our state, and Nigeria in general, we expect you to be taking a well deserved rest at this time. But agba kii wa ni oja, ki ori omo titun wo (we expect the elderly to intervene in correcting wrongs that everyone appears to have overlooked). Ti o ba se bii owe, e fi ori ji mi sir!!!

“Your urgent intervention is sorely needed to convince the Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, that the statutory Federal Allocation to Local Governments in Ogun State should be allowed to reach each of them as envisaged by the 1999 Constitution. Since we (Ogun State Local Government Chairmen) got on board in 2021, it has been zero Federal Allocation to each local government. The 10% of the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, which the Constitution also stipulated should go to the local governments has not been given since Abiodun got into office.”

It was in the light of the above that the state House of Assembly summoned the state Accountant-General and committee members of Joint Action Allocation Committee (JAAC), to appear before it for explanation and clarification on the issue surrounding distribution of LG funds. At the meeting held on Friday, it was said that no LG allocation was missing as alleged by Adedayo. This was contained in a statement issued by the Assembly, as journalists who were covering the state were turned back at the gate leading to the Assembly premises. Their position before the Assembly was that every fund approved by the committee consisting of stakeholders passed through the various Local Government Council Accounts.

Appearing before the House were the state Accountant General, Mr. Tunde Aregbesola; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Dr. Rotimi Akinlesi; State Chairman, Association of Local Government Chairmen and Chairman, Ijebu Ode Local Government Council, Tunde Emiola Gazal; Chairman, Association of Local Government Pensioners, Pastor Benedict Ademoye and representatives of SUBEB among others.

Their explanation was that the process of funding administration for JAAC used to be done on a monthly basis and that those at the meeting included the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and his Permanent Secretary; the 20 Local Government Chairmen; Commissioner for Finance; State Accountant General; President and Secretary of NULGE; representatives of Traditional Councils in the State; Local Government Service Commission; Bureau of Local Government Pension and representatives of LG Pensioners amongst others. It was in their submission that it was at the meeting that all first line charges including Primary School Teachers’ salaries; LG Pension; traditional council salaries; leave bonus and check-off dues of labour unions are aggregated among LG chairmen and payment made. They equally hinted that there were many occasions that the State Government had to augment shortfall to allow all the Local Government Council take care of all their first line charges.

Having listened carefully to their positions on the matter, the Speaker of the House, Honourable Olakunle Oluomo, explained that the House was yet to receive any formal petition as regards the allegation from any quarters, and that the Evidence Act does not allow for response based on speculations. Oluomo, however, assured that the Assembly would act on the petition if received, urging the JAAC Committee to provide all relevant documents in respect of their presentation to the Assembly for further legislative action.

On the matter, the state government during a press conference, on Friday, addressed by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tokunbo Talabi, described Adedayo’s allegations as spurious. He noted that Governor Abiodun had given certain commitments to the people of the state by being fair, just, equitable and transparent , and as such continued to maintain this position in the overall interest of the people of the state.

The state Chief Economic Adviser and Commissioner for Finance- designate, Mr. Dapo Okubadejo, explained that theirs was a separate account in which allocation from the federal government went into, that is, JAAC Account. He insisted that the state government since it came on board had been ensuring JAAC meeting every month whereby issues of how much was received as allocation from the federal government and distribution are critically discussed. Okubadejo explained that the account signatories are separate from that of the state’s account, saying the JAAC account is being managed independently by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. The economic adviser stated that the state government had been augmenting FG allocation in most cases when there are shortfalls to meet up with first line charges.

First line charges, according to him, are payment of primary school teachers, LG staff salaries and allowances; payment of LG pensioners; payment of traditional rulers salaries which are statutory. He said: “JAAC meeting is held every month on the allocation of funds from the federal government to local government. The meeting has the Local Government chairmen; pensioners; members of the State Traditional Council in attendance. JAAC is completely different from State Government account. The account signatories are separate from the state government accounts. It is independently managed. The account is being managed by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. The Local Government Service Commission conducts the activities of council areas as regards salaries and allowances of staff; the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) prepares salaries of all primary school teachers; the Bureau of Local Government Pensions prepares the monies to be paid to pensioners while the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs prepares salaries of traditional rulers.”

Meanwhile, the controversy triggered by the allegations and counter-allegations by the action of Honourable Adedayo has continued to generate public reactions. While some claimed that the letter only raised issues that must be investigated by appropriate authorities to determine the authenticity, others warned anyone or group from jumping into any conclusion. However, in his reaction, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state in the last election, Ladi Adebutu said the allegations constituted an impeachable offence. He charged members of the state Assembly to investigate the allegations and initiate an impeachment process on the governor if found culpable.

Adebutu, who spoke through his media aide, Afolabi Orekoya in Abeokuta, the state capital, said: “The local government chairman has also written a letter to the Speaker of the House of Assembly which we believe that the Speaker will not sweep the letter under the carpet because he is one of the team members of the governor.”

He was confident that PDP has faithful members in the House, who would refuse to cowed on the matter. “We have very responsible, very committed members of PDP who are also in the House of Assembly and I’m sure from what we have heard from our members this morning, they are already taking steps to ensure that the rule of law is being followed on this matter. We believe that he will bring the letter out and read on the floor of the House and we believe the members of the House will do the needful,” he said.

Honourable Adedayo has indeed stirred the hornet’s nest with the ripple effects bound to resonate among the different segments of the society for some time. It is already resonating in a curious way in official circles. For example, local government chairmen in the state besieged the government House, Abeokuta last week to apologise over the controversy being generated by the letter written by their colleague, Adedayo. A video of the visit that has since gone viral showed the chairmen prostrating before Governor Abiodun in the bid to placate him. Their action drew flak from some quarters because of what they regarded as a preemptive move since the letter of Adedayo only bothered on allegations of financial misappropriation, which has to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. No doubt, members of the public are curious and waiting on where the current matter will end. For now, the beat goes on.

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