Johnson Shodunke: Like Seun Kuti Like Gov Abiodun When He Slaps LG Chairmen In Ogun State

Johnson Shodunke: It is a season of slaps; a competition of wits and parody. Who slaps hardest? Bianca Ojukwu, Seun Kuti, the Police or the FRSC? But few have given considerations to the slaps that Ogun State Governor, Mr. Dapo Abiodun gives out to all 20 local government council areas and by extension the presiding Chairmen who have been rendered prostrate and turned to Gardeners supervising the financial weeds of what is left of local government administration.

For some time I decided to go low, to review if indeed our people have become so beaten, battered and bruised so much that they cannot see the corrupt empire being run by Mr. Abiodun.

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I received calls on a daily basis and from the hushed and muffled tones of complaints, I know the fear, the pains and the pangs that the people of Ogun State have been suffering in silence. Their silent cries remain: How did we get here?

Sometimes ago I wrote about the alleged N16 billion ecological funds that grew wings and LG Chairmen were called to come and sign off on after the election. Mr. Abiodun and his handlers kept mum.

Their wicked silence resonates in the painful cries of the young lad who lost his life in the torrential rains and floods in Sagamu a few weeks ago and the several families who also suffered painful losses to this ecological disaster which can be prevented or mitigated with the ecological funds had these gotten to the right channel.

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Which slap is hardest? My vote: Gov Abiodun’s Dirty Slaps on Local Government Chairmen is the hardest. Let me explain this in figures, the Federal Government was said to have released a total sum of N8.1b as a bailout to Local Governments in Ogun State (in tranches of N2.5b, N2.7b and lately N2.9b).

The first two tranches totalling N5.2 billion have gone into financing Governor Abiodun’s profligate elections, procurement of political endorsement, private business and personal support, while the latest N2.9 billion is also being diverted for an extensive post election litigation at the Election Tribunal.

LG Chairmen in Ogun State attend monthly lectures called JAAC just to receive information on how much Audio money was allocated to them from Abuja. They never really see the money. When you have a Guy Man at the top of your state’s affairs, you should expect some ingenuous slaps.

I said some time ago, but for the resistance of the Union leaders, all staff in the Ogun State Government Employments were almost compelled to open an account with a single bank, Access Bank. But some union leaders kicked against this.

The bitter pills rejected by the workers, were eventually forced down the throats of the Local Government Councils administration. All the 20 LGs in Ogun State have accounts opened on their behalf in the Abeokuta branch of the bank from which their salaries, allowances and security votes are paid.

No LG Executive Chairman is a signatory to an account purportedly opened and run in their names as Chief Accounting and Security Officers of their respective LGs.

The accounts run only daily shifts, once money is deposited in the morning, by evening the account is closed for the month, everything emptied, waiting for the next deposit of Federal Allocation or Bail out Supports etc from the FG.

Johnson Shodunke.