POLITICS
Councillors Impeach Ogun LG Boss Who Accused Governor of Diverting Council Funds
The suspended Chairman of the local government, Hon. Wale Adedayo has been impeached.
Recall that he recently accused the governor of the state, Dapo Abiodun of diverting funds meant for LGAs in the state.
Adedayo was removed by councillors of Ijebu East Local Government of Ogun State on Thursday over allegations of financial misappropriation and diversion of council funds, among other allegations made against him.
This was according to a statement by the Leader of the Legislative Council of the local government, Hon Fasheyi Akindele.
He said the embattled council boss was suspended after he owned up to allegations levelled against him.
The statement reads “The councillors of Ijebu East Local Government of Ogun State earlier today impeached the suspended Chairman of the local government, Hon.
Wale Adedayo, over allegations of financial misappropriation and diversion of council funds, among other allegations made against him.“After a series of invitations by the House, which were ignored in the past, Adedayo eventually appeared before the legislative council today as the councillors continued their probe of the chairman.
“The suspended Chairman owned up before the full house of 11 councillors that he diverted Federal allocations sent to the Council by the State Government and used them for purposes other than what the State Government approved.
“Adedayo also agreed that he spent the Council funds till August 2023, even when the budget was yet to be approved, whereas the laws only allow him to spend till March 2023.
“Adedayo also opened up that he used N5.2 million to produce 20 pieces of chairs and tables instead of the 290 chairs that the money was meant for as approved by the state government.
“On the issue of illegal levies and strikers to commercial transport operators in the local government, Adedayo said he thought the House had passed the Bill to that effect, but the Leader of the House reminded him that a bill if passed by the House, would have been jointly signed by the Leader of the House and the Council Chairman.
“That the chairman has run foul of the laws of the land, specifically the Ogun State Local Government Laws 2006 and committed serious impeachable offences was therefore established.
After about three hours of deliberation, the impeachment of the Chairman was put to vote. Five councillors voted for his impeachment, four voted against, with one abstention
“Therefore, the Leader of the House pronounced Mr. Wale Adedayo impeached as the Chairman of Ijebu East LG.”
Adedayo had earlier in the morning appeared before the legislators of the local government to defend the allegation of financial misappropriation and maladministration levelled against him
Punch gathered Adedayo who arrived at the local government secretariat in the company of his two aides at about 7:47am was called in to appear before the councillors around 10:22am and came out around 12:02pm
The councillors were said to have been brought into the local government in a white Coaster civilian bus with Reg Num OGUN AH 782 DED guarded by the police in a white Toyota Hilux patrol van.
At least about 40 security officers drawn from the police, the Directorate of State Security Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were said to have been on the ground to maintain law and order.
Adedayo, while speaking on his appearance before the councillors, said he was not fighting any personal cause with the government in power in the state, but fighting for the good people of the local government.
Adedayo said, “I was at Ogbere this morning to honour the invitation of the Legislative Council. I did not go in with any documents. I referred them to all files in the office to guide them in the investigation.
“I’m aware they were being sponsored from Abeokuta, but they denied it. The bus that brought them into the council secretariat is from Abeokuta, it belongs to the state government. I don’t have any issue with that.
“I told them to be thorough in their investigation because posterity will judge each and every one of us. I am not fighting for myself. I am doing this in the interest of Ijebu East Local Government.”
“Meanwhile, I got information now that after I left the place, the Leader of the House pushed a motion for impeachment. Five of the Councillors along with the Leader supported the motion.
“I told them this morning they were acting a script written by those in Abeokuta. All the documents about the allegations against me are in the office. But I know Mr. Governor is offended that we opened up to the public about how the Federal Allocation belonging to Ijebu East Local Government was being spent.
“I have done my duty as an Afenifere by letting our Leader know why we have not been able to do much since we got into office. The rest is for the court to decide.”
The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.
The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.
“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.
“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.
“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”
He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.
Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.
He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.
He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.
According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.
Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.
Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)
Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).
He was represented by his Chief of Staff. He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)
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