The Ogun Government on Tuesday in Abeokuta said it has never tampered with local government funds but has rather helped to augment their finances.
Mr Lekan Adeniran, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Gov. Dapo Abiodun, disclosed this in a statement, detailing the processes of sharing funds belonging to the local governments.
The clarification was a reaction to a letter credited to the Chairman of Ijebu-East Local Government, Mr Wale Adedayo, alleging zero revenue allocation to local governments in the state since 2021.
“We have never tampered with local government funds. The Gov. Abiodun-led administration has had to augment the funds allocated to local governments in the state from the Federation Account to enable them to meet their obligations.
“It is therefore a wonder how adding to the funds allocated to the local councils to enable them meet their obligations amounted to hijacking their funds,” Adeniran said.
“Members of that committee usually ensure that the third tier of government gets the required allocations for optimal performance.
“The latest meeting by JAAC was held last week, and it was widely reported in the media.
“At the meeting, which was held at Oke-Mosan in Abeokuta, over five billion Naira was shared among the 20 local councils, out of which over two billion Naira went into paying teachers.”
“And just last week, N5.2 billion was shared among the local governments for the month of August,” he said.
