The minority caucus of the Ogun State House of Assembly has called on the executive arm of the state government led by Governor Dapo Abiodun to be more transparent in reacting to the accusation made by the Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government, Wale Adedayo.
The minority caucus charged the executive arm to present enough evidence to address the allegations of withholding statutory federal allocations due to local governments in the state.
Ogun Assembly Minority Leader, Lukman Adeleye, told DAILY POST in Abeokuta that local government councils must be allowed to thrive as a grassroots government of the people by allowing proper accountability.
Adeleye, who spoke on behalf of the minority caucus, noted that the allegations of Adedayo could be well debunked by the government through transparency and accountability.
He alluded that, though the governor had denied the allegations and the local government chairmen had tendered their apologies to him, “proofs of payments, receipts and other documents would go a long way in ensuring transparency and letting the masses know the true situation of things.”
As the representatives of the people, he said it behoves the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members at the assembly to stay on the side of the people “to unravel the true situation and act accordingly.”
The lawmaker maintained that it would not be a good idea anywhere in the world if funds meant to be used by the local government to improve lives were truly being diverted.
“By the time the assembly would start investigating, we would surely get to the end of this,” he stated.
He added, “There is an accusation, and as of now, unless we know the true situation, nothing can be done. But we won’t shy away from the complaints that the councils are handicapped to handle any projects as this seems visible.”
The minority leader stressed that one of the cardinal points of his party is the autonomy of the local government councils, which must be fully funded to ensure the dividends of democracy get to the people.