The Legislative Council of East Ijebu local government Ogun State suspended council chairman Wale Adedayo days after he accused Governor Dapo Abiodun of embezzling local council funds in the state.
In a series of posts on his Facebook page on Thursday morning, Adedayo had said his councilors were being coerced into firing him.
A few hours later, a resolution emerged in which the councilors announced the suspension of Adedayo for “financial mismanagement.”
According to the document signed by the chamber’s leader, Adesuji Fasheyi, and six others, lawmakers said they had resolved to suspend Adedayo while they investigated the allegations against him.
The council has 11 members.
The legislators also ordered Mr. Adedayo to appear before them at their next session on September 14 at Ogbere, the seat of the council.
“Let the President step aside for the proper development of the investigations.
“The President of the Council, Hon. Wale Adedayo, you are suspended for three months until the investigations are concluded and, therefore, you are ordered to hand over all council property in your possession to the vice president…”, the council resolution further states.
He also ordered the council treasurer, through the Head of Local Government Administration (HOLGA), to provide them with the council’s bank statements for the last two years, along with other relevant documents and vouchers required by the house for their investigation.
Punishment?
However, this fact is an apparent punishment for Adedayo for opposing Governor Abiodun for the alleged illegal diversion of funds from the municipalities of his state.
Newslodge reported how Adedayo, in a letter sent on Sunday to former state governor Segun Osoba, complained that local governments were under a “zero allocation” regime because the governor had allegedly seized their federal allocations. and their internally generated income. .
The Nigerian Constitution, in its Article 162, prohibits state governments from interfering with local government funds, but state governors are widely believed to meddle in the use of funds belonging to councils.
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Adedayo continued to write petitions to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the CIPC containing the same accusations.
However, the governor, in a statement on Tuesday from his spokesman, Kunle Adeniran, denied the allegation, saying he had instead been increasing allocations to local councils.
On Wednesday, the heads of the 18 local governments in the state, under the umbrella of the Association of Local Government Councils of Nigeria (ALGON), came to Government House in Abeokuta toapologize for the ‘shame’ that the governor’s statements caused by his colleague.
Adedayo reacts
Reacting to the latest development, Adedayo said his suspension did not follow due process.
In statements to reporters, he stated that two of the councilors who signed the resolution suspending him were taken to the council secretariat at gunpoint.
“The suspension or impeachment of a local government president must follow due process. The first stage is a letter addressed to me about the so-called violations.
“Of course, this morning they stormed the town hall office with more than 100 armed policemen, as well as thugs and ‘agberos’.
“They think we were going to react violently as they had prepared. We are in a democracy. We will challenge them democratically.
“All the accusations are baseless and baseless. Yesterday the Secretary of the House was forcibly marched to Abeokuta along with HOLGA from the local government. So, we knew what the Governor was doing before the farce this morning.
“Two of the councilors were taken to the Council at gunpoint. And immediately after they finished, they were all taken in a vehicle to Abeokuta.
“Of course, they told me that 1 million naira was given to each person who signed. It doesn’t bother us. Once the EFCC arrives, the local government books will also be able to be opened for viewing,” he added.
On Thursday morning, Adedayo had raised the alarm that his councilors were being coerced into suspending him from office.
“Invading the peaceful Ogbere community with mobile police to remove Wale Adedayo is desperate. As I told the SSG yesterday, we swore with our parents that we will make this earth a better place than we knew it. You can kill the body but not the spirit of Wale Adedayo.
“Yesterday, the Secretary of the House was summoned to Abeokuta along with our HOLGA. Of course, they wanted to remove me from Tuesday. They claimed this was done today after more than 100 armed policemen invaded the local government.
“So after this, the accusations go away? The Lord Governor still has (sic) to account for all the funds since 2019. And we still have to open another box for the 52 billion naira,” Adedayo wrote on Facebook.
State police spokesman Omolola Odutola could not be reached for comment on the alleged involvement of police in the alleged siege of the local council secretariat in Ogbere.
Mrs. Odutola did not answer her calls or respond to a text message sent to her by our correspondents on Thursday.
LG bosses prostrate themselves before the governor
Following Mr. Adedayo’s initial accusations against the governor, his colleagues from the state’s 17 other AGLs rushed to Government House in Abeokuta to disassociate themselves from the accusations.
A video of the meeting, which later surfaced online, showed the heads of the council prostrating themselves while pleading with Governor Abiodun. Although Adedayo was at the event, he said he did not join the governor’s pleas, as he stood firm on his accusations.
Association of Local Government Presidents (ALGON) in Ogun State, chaired by the President of Ijebu-Ode LG, Hon. Emilola Gazal, led other members to apologize unreservedly to Governor Dapo Abiodun for the recent statements made by one of them, Mr. Wale Adedayo. pic.twitter.com/jqBpShWsQE
– TVC News (@tvcnewsng) August 30, 2023
The event turned dramatically subservient when the council presidents, led by ALGON state president Babatunde Emilola-Gazal, fell face up to the ground to plead with Mr. Abiodun.
After listening to the heads of the council, the governor reminded them that he had respected the provisions of the constitution in managing the state’s local government funds.
He said the funds were administered by the Joint Accounts and Appropriations Committee (JAAC), the legal entity for distributing funds to local governments.
“I am doing this work with all sincerity and I will continue to make sure that I live by my promises during my stay here,” Mr. Abiodun said.
Commenting later on his colleagues’ actions before the governor, Mr. Adedayo said: “It’s a democracy, anyone can choose the option they want. Either they want to serve the people who elected them or they want to serve the Governor, the choice is theirs.
“Let your constituents ask you how much you have received so far and how much you have spent on what. That’s it, if true, they are begging, that means they were giving them money, so how much have they collected so far and what did they use the money for, where is the balance? That’s what their constituents should be asking them.”
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