By Ayodele Oni
Local governments’ workers in Ondo state have cried out over deductions from Council funds for spurious projects.
They fingered some top Government officials, including the Commissioner for Finance, Accountant General of the State and the Leadership of the Association of Local Government Chairmen, (ALGON) in the state.
The Council workers, under the aegis of National Union of Local Government Employees, (NULGE) called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), to help them retrieve the money totalling about a billion naira, already deducted from Local Government allocations.
In a statement in Akure, NULGE state President, Mr Bola Taiwo, disclosed that the money was initially proposed for the construction of Heath Centres in the 774 Councils in the country.
“The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), proposed to construct and equip one Comprehensive Healthcare Centre in each of the 774 Local Governments and Area Councils across the country.
“Surprisingly, we discovered that the project has not been executed in any of the eighteen (18) Local Governments in Ondo State
“It is pertinent to mention that the deductions have been made so far over the period of three months.
“On discovering this shady deal, we consulted with ALGON who confirmed our discovery.
“We officially communicated the State Government of the sad development, seeking to know the State Govemment’s involvement in the illegal processes.
“Precisely, on the 19th of October, 2020, we alerted the State Government to this unusual and illegal steps and copied other state functionaries, including the Accountant General, and we registered our dissatisfaction.
“We found out that the State Government has no involvement; except for the complicit of the Commissioner for Finance and Accountant General of Ondo State.
“It should be noted that the funds accruing to us from the Federal Allocation already is not enough. Now, imagine 119 million Naira being deducted on monthly basis from the source.
“We want the EFCC to invite the Ondo State ALGON Chairman for questioning on why he decided to embark on these non-existing projects, and the Minister of Finance, Budget and planning, the minister of Justice, the Accountant General of the Federation, the Ondo State Commissioner of Finance, and the Accountant General of Ondo State on their complicit roles in the illegal projects.
“We also call on the EFCC to help us recover the three-months illegal deductions made so far and revert same to the Ondo State Local Governments accounts.
“We, at NULGE would like to state, without any measure of fear, that if the three-months illegally deducted from our Local Governments accounts are not returned to us, and if any further deduction is illegally made at any future time, either by ALGON or any other group, NULGE cannot guarantee harmony between the Union and ALGON on one side and the collaborators on the other side.”
