Victor Ojelabi
The embattled local government chairman of Ijebu East local government, Hon. Wale Adedayo, has once again expressed his views and urged the current governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, to learn from his predecessor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, about governance.
Adedayo’s remarks came after his release from detention by the Department of State Services (DSS), where Abiodun reportedly filed a complaint alleging that Adedayo had made inciting statements against the state and had brought embarrassment to his tenure as governor.
It should be noted that Adedayo had previously written an open letter to a former governor and national chieftain of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, in which he alleged several financial improprieties against the governor regarding the funds allocated to the local governments by the federal government.
In the controversial letter, Adedayo, popularly known as Babalawo, accused Abiodun of not remitting funds due to the local governments since he came into power in 2019. Read more here
Governor Abiodun, however, did not take the criticism lightly.
In his letter to the DSS, he accused Adedayo of making statements that threatened the state’s security and further tarnished his reputation as governor.
The governor’s decision to involve the security agency in this matter has generated mixed reactions among the public, with some perceiving it as an attempt to stifle dissenting voices.
The chairman, known for his outspoken nature, did not hold back in expressing his opinion on the matter during interrogation by the DSS. He argued that Governor Abiodun could benefit from studying the leadership style and achievements of Otunba Daniel, who led the state from 2003 to 2011.
Citing Daniel’s notable achievements during his tenure, Adedayo emphasized that the former governor’s success can be attributed to how well he treated the local government chairmen under him at the time. He claimed that Abiodun’s administration, in comparison, has fallen short in terms of delivering on campaign promises and initiating significant development projects.
He said:
“DSS Claimed there is a letter from the governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, that I was making inciting comments against the state government but I told them that there was nothing like that or who did they say I have incited? They said that I was planning a protest but I said I don’t know anything about that and I told them that I had only done what my conscience said that I should and this I did with my other colleagues and chairmen even though they all ran back. My conscience is very clear in the letter I wrote to Chief Olusegun Osoba, the former governor of the state and a national leader of our party, APC.
“Some of the chairmen had input into the letter, I only did the editing of the letter, put my name there, and then sent it and what is written in the letter affects all the council chairmen, so it is not about getting their backing or not. So what the governor wanted me to do was to do a retraction of what the letter contained but I said that I won’t do that. The DSS later said the governor said that I have embarrassed him and I said if the governor felt that I have embarrassed him, I am sorry but the truth is that the facts are there for “I am not fighting with Governor Abiodun, he is my friend, he’s my egbon, my senior brother but my take is if the local governments are doing well, it’s all to the credit of Mr Governor.
He is the one people will be talking about and I gave them the example of the government of Otunba Gbenga Daniel between 2003 to 2011. If you go to the 236 wards in the state you will see the footprints of this government at the grassroots, the people will be saying Daniel did this, he did that but it was the local government chairmen that did all of these projects yet people till today will be shouting the name of Gbenga Daniel. All of these were made possible because the governor allowed the local governments to have access to their federal allocations.
“So, I said the same thing will be happening if Governor Abiodun allows the local governments to have access to their funds. And then they came up with the issue of being sponsored, I am 57 and I know what is good for the people, no one is sponsoring me and they said that I should apologise and do a retraction but I said no. I said if the governor said that he was embarrassed I am sorry but I equally added that if the governor had funded the local governments all would have been to his credit, I wrote all of this for the DSS.”
When told that the Joint Account Allocation Committee, responsible for managing the council fund in the state, has stated that no money from the local governments is missing, Adedayo said, “Let them tell that to the EFCC, I have sent my letters to them. Who is even JAAC? This concerns the local government chairmen, and if each of them claims that they have been collecting the money meant to develop their council areas, they should be ready to give an account to the people.”
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