Local Government chairmen in Ogun State, on Tuesday, prostrated and begged Governor Dapo Abiodun for forgiveness over the accusation of withholding council allocations.
Politics Nigeria recalled that the Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State, Wale Adedayo, had accused the governor of withholding the LGs’ allocations.
Adedayo lamented that the governor had not paid a dime to local government accounts as Federal allocation in the last two years, and the chairmen had been unable to execute projects in their local governments in the last two years.
The council chairmen also asked the governor to release the LG funds, ecological funds and other entitlements due to them as stated by the 1999 Constitution.
Adedayo also petitioned the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), calling for the investigation of the governor over the alleged diversion of local government funds.
But the governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Lekan Adeniran, on Tuesday, said he had never tampered with local government funds.
He wondered how adding to the funds allocated to the local councils to enable them meet their obligations amounted to hijacking their funds.
However, the council chairmen led by the ALGON Chairman, Babatunde Emilola-Gazal, stormed the governor’s office in Abeokuta and begged for forgiveness.
A viral video that surfaced online on Tuesday showed the council chairmen begging for forgiveness on behalf of their colleague, who raised the allegations.
Emilola-Gazal subsequently prostrated alongside others, before the governor and asked him to forgive Adedayo for his utterances.
He said: “Your Excellency, we have come here to beg you as a father that you are, as a father of all in the state, we want you to forgive us.
“Your Excellency, if you don’t forgive us, who do we run to? So, on behalf of all of us, I am tendering this apology and, in particular, on behalf of Wale Adedayo.”
In his remarks, Abiodun stated that he had always carried out his responsibilities as the governor with every sincerity of purpose and has never withheld any local government allocations.
