Lagos council chairman cleared of N1.9bn budget funds misappropriation — APC Chieftain

 

The Chairman of Eti-Osa East Local Council Development Area, Hon. John Campos Ogundare, has been cleared of allegations of non-compliance and misappropriating 2023 budget funds of the district.

This was disclosed by a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Rotimi Sulaiman, during a pro-Ogundare protest held by leaders of the party at the Assembly complex.

Recall that the Concerned Residents of Eti-Osa East LCDA, a group coordinated by Comrade Segun William, had petitioned the Lagos State House of Assembly and the State Audit Service Commission, accusing the Council Chairman of siphoning funds to the tune of N1.9 billion.

In a petition submitted to the Lagos State House of Assembly titled, “Call for Suspension of the chairman of Eti-Osa East LCDA over allegations of misappropriation of N1.9billion from the 2023 budget,” in April 2024, the group alleged,  “Among the allegations were failure to pay the running costs of various departments of the council based on the 2023 budget, neglecting balance payments to past political office holders against government advice, unauthorised project execution and contract awards without legislative approval, non-adherence to the 2023 budget for school and primary Health Care construction and renovation and failure to comply with legislative requests for income and expenditure records amongst others.”

Giving an update on the development, Hon. Sulaiman described the allegations as baseless and misleading, stating, “It is impossible to appropriate an amount that was never received.”

He added, “It has now emerged that the investigation launched into the allegations by the State Assembly didn’t find the Eti-Osa East LCDA Chairman guilty as charged.

“The Assembly has long cleared the Chairman of the allegations after its committee’s investigation found no incriminating evidence against him.

“The State Audit Service Commission, following the petition, subjected the 2023 budget performance of the council to a thorough audit, an exercise that was done twice in three months, and on both occasions, the allegations proved unfounded.”

According to him, the investigations carried out by the House of Assembly and Audit Service Commission revealed that the Eti-Osa East LCDA’s revenue for the year 2023, with federal, state allocation and internally generated revenues combined, amounted to N1.4 billion.

“The discovery gave the lie to the allegations as it shows clearly that the accusation was baseless and misleading because it is impossible to appropriate an amount that was never received.

It was further gathered that the fact of the matter, rather than the alleged fiction peddled by the petitioners, propelled the Council’s legislative arm to pass to the council chairman their resolution at a plenary on the matter.

“In fact, the councillors had set the records straight on the role they played in the allegations via a communication to the Executive Chairman in which they said they held a plenary where they declared that at no time did they accuse Ogundare of misappropriating N1.9 billion.

“They said the only thing they did then, was to seek explanation on the year 2023 budget from the Chairman; and found it curious that their position was deliberately misrepresented in order to tar the council leadership with corruption brush.”

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