Ogun State government on Tuesday, said that the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led administration often had to augment the funds allocated to local governments in the state from the Federation Account to enable them to meet their obligations.
The state government said this while reacting 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, said that it had never tampered with local government funds.
Wondering how adding to the funds allocated to the local councils to enable them to meet their obligations amounted to hijacking their funds, the Ogun State government said that funds meant for local governments in the state are being handled by the constitutionally recognised Joint Account and Allocation Committee, JAAC.
The government explained these in a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary, CPS, to the state governor, Mr Lekan Adeniran, that JAAC members ensure that the third tier of government gets the required allocations for optimal performance.
Noting that the latest meeting of the JAAC was held last week, and was widely reported in the media, the statement added that at the meeting, which was held at the Conference Hall, Oba’s Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, over N5 billion was shared among the 20 local government areas, out of which over N2 billion went into paying teachers’ salaries.
It said, “Between May 2023 when the governor was sworn-in for the second term and July 2023, the JAAC shared among 20 local governments N4.531 billion, N4.444 billion and N4.497 billion for May, June and July respectively on first line charges; and just last week N5.2 billion was shared among the local governments for the month of August.”
The JAAC, according to the statement, comprises major stakeholders in local government administration, including the Chief Economic Adviser to the governor, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, tbe state’s Accountant General, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, all the 20 local government chairmen, one representative from each of the four traditional councils in the state, representative of the state Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, National Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, local govt pensioners, retired primary school teachers, the state Local Government Service Commission, the Local Government Pension Commission and the Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT.
Tbe statement added that the JAAC has the mandate to meet every month to ensure that allocations to local governments are discussed and properly presented for fund allocation.
At such meetings, the state government makes full disclosure of the receipt from the federation account.
First-line charges, including local government staff salaries and pensions; primary school teachers’ salaries and pensions; healthcare workers’ salaries and pensions and emoluments for traditional rulers are tabled for discussion, and fund allocated at the JAAC meetings, the statement said.
The statement reiterated that this same pattern has been followed religiously since Prince Dapo Abiodun took over the leadership of the state in 2019.
Adeniran further revealed that Governor Abiodun recently directed the local governments to identify critical roads that required government attention in their domains, with some already commissioned.
In the same vein, many schools have been rehabilitated, while others are undergoing renovation.
It added, “In addition to these, the state government also disburse funds to all local governments for developmental projects periodically.”
