The discovery of alleged secret spending of a hidden N4.3b in the account of Ondo State Government has further exposed the faceoff between Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and the Deputy Governor, Ajayi Agboola, reports Osagie Otabor in Akure
For the past few months, lawmakers in Ondo State House of Assembly have been having a cold war with Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. It was a war that refused to blow in the open because the Assembly is dominated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Moreover, many of the lawmakers loyal to the Deputy Governor, Hon Ajayi Agboola, are not happy about the situation.
Agboola and Akeredolu are currently not on the same page politically. But the sudden appearance of Agboola at a public event last Monday after being absent for many weeks sent tongues wagging on whether the Deputy Governor has abandoned his followers. The public show of the Deputy Governor at an event where the Governor was giving update on the fight against COVID-19 happened three days after the lawmakers vowed to commence probe into how N4.3bn kept in a Zenith Bank account for over 10 years was expended without their knowledge.
It was gathered that the lawmakers became aware of the hidden N4.3bn when the Accountant-General of the state, Mr. Laolu Akindolire, submitted the 2019 audit report to the House Committee on Public Accounts. It was contained under item 4.0 titled, “Revenue Recovery from Zenith Bank.”
However, it was when the Ondo Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Wale Akinterinwa, appeared before the lawmakers to brief them on how the N30bn bond approved by the House was accessed and spent by the executive arm that they raised the issue of recovery fund from Zenith Bank as contained in the audit report.
The lawmakers has said that the money was lodged in the bank without due process and resolved to probe the financial transaction by asking Akinterinwa to furnish the Public Accounts Committee of the House with all necessary documents. They vowed to invoke their constitutional power to unravel the circumstances of keeping the money secretly in the bank for over 10 years as well as withdrawal and spending of the money by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu administration without being appropriated for.
Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Sunday Olajide, said it was not meant to witch-hunt anybody but entrench transparency and accountability into government business.
House Committee Chairman on Public Accounts, Ademola Edamisan, told newsmen the House would get to the root of the matter
Edamisan noted that since the N4.3billion has been in a fixed account for over 10 years, the House was interested in the interests that the money must have been generated for over 10 years.
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