Osun Local Government Council Chairmen In Trouble
Nov 21st, 2009 | By admin | Category: South West News
•As Assembly Is Set To Enact Law Against Them
High rate of misappropriation of public funds and abuse of office practiced by all local government council chairmen in Osun State have attracted the attention of the State House of Assembly, prompting it to begin a move to review the state local government administration law.
The legislators intend to embark on the review of the third tier level of government in the state with a view to bringing the activities of the 30 council areas under their control.
The council chairmen in the state since their controversial inauguration in December 2007 have been involved in illegal deductions of council workers’ salaries and diversion of public funds to personal projects.
The move to check the arbitrariness among the sacked 30 council bosses was sequel to a 17-point petition received by the House from Ejigbo Local Government Council Area against its chairman, Mr. Samuel Adegboyega over his high-handedness in the running of the council.
Investigations in some council areas in the state showed that since the ratification of the controversial 25 executive assistants by the House of Assembly for each of the councils, the council bosses have been indulging in recruiting their family members and political thugs into the councils illegally.
It was also gathered that out of the N50,000 approved for the executive assistants which was normally slashed into two with one part paid to the holder of the position, the second part is paid to various categories of illegal workers employed by the chairmen.
Checks further revealed that since 2008, the various council areas have not been investing in any capital projects capable of improving the lot of the people of the rural areas.
OSUN DEFENDER also learnt that some of the council bosses were involved in approval of contracts without following due-process, a situation that led to inflation of contract sums.
Findings also showed that since their sack by the Appeal Court in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, the troubled chairmen had been back-dating their vouchers in a desperate bid to avoid being probed in the event of a change of government.
Apart from defying the court’s order, the council bosses have been diverting funds meant for council workers’ allowances to personal use, causing acrimony between them (chairmen) and the career officers in the council.
However, some of them were said to have colluded with their Directors of Finance (DF) to misappropriate public funds at the expense of the masses.
Furthermore, the 30 local government council bosses had previously defied the order of the State House of Assembly, instructing them to retrieve the vehicles bought for their spouses from the council coffers.
Instead of retrieving the vehicles, the chairmen only inscribed on the vehicles “Women Development Unit” but are still being used by their spouses as official cars.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Honourable Adejare Bello, while reacting on the petition written by 16 eminent indigenes of Ejigbo Local Government Council, disclosed during the House’s plenary session last Wednesday that the House would constitute a committee to review the council administration laws.
Bello further stated that the House Committees on Local Government and Public Accounts would look into the matter and report their findings to the House with a view to finding a lasting solution to the excesses of the council chairmen.
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It is only a fool that will take the Speaker’s word seriously. Nothing will happen in the end. The state house of assembly is a disgrace despite the fact that we still have some reasonable number of opposition members in the house. We are not saying that they (opposition) should be violent but they should let the people see the difference between them and the PDP thieves.
I just greeting you, I see what you write that Osun Local Government Council Chairmen In Trouble, why
What i’m surely knw is that all the local government chairman wil blame their seal at last
Adire irana ki se onu ajegbe adeke masoro ki la wa ti mo ti o se ogbe fo hun folohun
Not only Osogbo chairman but all of them are thief.They do recieved millions of naira without any project to show for people.
OYELEYE E.A (WARD 4,ILESA EAST LOCAL GOVT)´s last blog ..PDP: ENOUGH OF THIS CHICANERY