In August 2023, Wale Adedayo, then chairman of Ijebu East LGA in Ogun state, was suspended for three months over allegations of maladministration and financial mismanagement.
after which he was invited by the Department of State Services to clarify the allegations against him.the former LG chair spoke on issues surrounding his dismissal from office and addressed the supreme court’s judgement granting financial autonomy to LGAs and its impact on states.Adedayo: I’m a firm believer in the fact that the federating units of the country should take control of the resources that God has given them.
So, it got to a stage where the outgoing chairman of Ijebu-Ode LGA, Alhaji Gazal, called me on a Saturday to say that five of them had met and they agreed on some things that they wanted to put on paper that maybe we could send to Olusegun Osoba. While we were doing that, we were worried, given the situation of the last election, that the people would develop a kind of hatred for the All Progressive Congress in Ogun state.
Adedayo: My suspension was illegal; the impeachment was also illegal because, if we go through the local government laws of Ogun state, they did not follow one single step. Even in the account to which the money was sent, I don’t have the authority as local government chairman to operate it. We can’t get money from that account. No matter the kind of letter I write to the bank or the kind of thing I tell them, you cannot access the account as a local government chairman. The account can only be accessed by those in Abeokuta
Projects that you see Gbenga Daniel’s name on were there just to honour him, not that he did the projects. I remember working with the governor then. There has to be approval from the state, up to a certain limit. I think the limit should then be about N10 million or so. For any spending above N10 million, you have to seek approval from the state. So, for generations to come, a lot of people would think it was Daniel who did the projects.
TheCable: On July 11, the supreme court granted financial autonomy to LGAs. What do you think of the judgement?I felt fulfilled after seeing the judgement because it is something that I’ve been wishing for. It’s something you’ve been praying for—that a strong hand, stronger than these governors, will just come from nowhere and make sure that money gets straight into the hands of the local government chairman, and that’s precisely what has happened.
I was explaining to somebody yesterday. I said if you’re a local government chairman, primary school is under your authority. Primary care centres are under your authority. The people who should work the most are the local governments. If the local government doesn’t work, there’s nothing that the state or federal government can achieve in terms of governance.TheCable: Would you love to propose any reforms to ensure accountability?Houses of assembly must be up to the task in their jobs. But right now, it is as if we don’t have houses of assembly in Nigeria.
There are some people in the senate today who are supposed to be local government chairmen. If you really want to serve the people, the major place where you can serve is at the local government level.
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