By Ayobami Ife, Abeokuta
The Ogun State House of Assembly has summoned key officials of Odogbolu Local Government, including the council Chairman, Honourable Tunde Diya, Head of local government administration, HOLGA, Mr Victor Awobotu, the council Treasurer, Mr Stephen Adesanya and Engineer Yusuff Bamidele, to report for questioning over alleged financial impropriety.
The Daily Crucible reports that the democratically elected Odogbolu Local Government Council under the watch of Tunde Diya, son of late General Oladipo Diya, is less than a year old, having been elected and enthroned in November, 2024 alongside 19 other councils in the state.
The Daily Crucible further reports that the move to crack down on the council officials followed a damning report by the House Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, which allegedly uncovered several discrepancies in the council’s financial records and project implementations.
The committee led by Chairman Hon. Jemili Akingbade, it waa learnt, discovered expenditures that were rightly deemed as extraneous to the approved budget with instances of spending without necessary approval from the Finance and General Purposes Committee (F&GPC).
There was also a discovery of project inflation, and unethical disbursement of funds through the Director of Works, raising serious questions about financial management, transparency and accountability within the local government.
According to Hon. Akingbade, “We’ve identified spending outside the approved budget… Furthermore, there are instances of spending without the necessary approval from the F&GPC.”
The committee’s report also revealed that costs seemed artificially inflated and funds were disbursed unethically.
The Ogun State House of Assembly has taken a firm stance, emphasizing that public funds must be used judiciously and for intended purposes.
“We’re not here to witch-hunt anyone,” Hon. Akingbade stressed, “but we must ensure that public funds are used judiciously and for the intended purposes.”
Other members of the committee include Hon. Awolaja Dickson, Hon. Sheriff Yussuf, Hon. Adeleye Lukman, Hon. Damilola Kayode, Hon. Sobukonla Kunle, Hon. Haruna Egungbohun, Hon. Adegoke Adeyanju, Hon. Fatiu Folawewo, and Bar. Seun Adesanya.
This development is a clear indication that the Ogun State House of Assembly is committed to upholding good governance and will not tolerate financial impropriety.
The summoned officials are expected to report for questioning to provide explanations for the alleged financial misconduct.
The Daily Crucible tried to contact the Council for its reaction over the summon of the officials by the Ogun Assembly but the efforts have so far not yielded any success as of the time of filing the report on Thursday morning.
But a source very close to the Odogbolu LGA which asked to remain anonymous, told our reporter that members of the opposition were orchestrating the needless inquisition.
“We don’t need all this at this time. We don’t have any reaction to the opposition intent.They are free to insinuate whatever they wish but at the appropriate time, we will get to you whenever we want to put anything in public,” the source said.
