Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo has disassociated himself from governors accused of ‘habitual stealing’ of funds meant for local governments in their states. 

Mr Akeredolu, in a statement released on Saturday by his Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde, said since his inception as governor in February 2017, he has never touched funds meant for Ondo’s third tier government. 

The Ondo governor’s clarification comes three days after President Muhammadu Buhari accused governors of stealing allocations meant for their states’ local governments.

However, it’s not clear from the statement if Mr Akeredolu was responding to Mr Buhari.

Mr Buhari made the allegation last week while hosting members of the Senior Executive Course 44 (2022) of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Citing an unnamed “personal experience”, the president had said that some governors collect money on behalf of local councils in their states, but remit half to the chairman, who would further deplete the remittance in further pilfering of public resources.

“If the money from the Federation Account to the state is about N100 million, N50 million will be sent to the chairman, but he will sign that he received N100 million. The governor will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wants to share it with.

“And then the council chairman must see to how he will pay salaries and say to hell with development. When he pays salaries, the balance he will put in his pocket,” he said. 

Mr Akeredolu further asserted that the monies meant for the 18 local governments in Ondo were always shared during the monthly Joint Account Allocation Committee.

“As a matter of policy, monies meant for Local Governments are shared at their monthly Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC).

“Mr Governor doesn’t touch local governments’ funds. The local government Chairmen can attest to the fact that they have total freedom in the management of their funds,” the governor said in the statement obtained by Peoples Gazette. 

Meanwhile, governors of Rivers and Benue States, Nyesom Wike and Samuel Ortom, have challenged Mr Buhari to expose governors that steal local government funds.

Messrs Wike and Ortom of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) dared Mr Buhari during the inauguration of the Mgbuosimini Internal Roads in Rivers state on Friday. 

“So, Mr President, who are those people? You know them, tell us. It is not good to say what you call class defamation, you say, governors, please I am not one of those governors.

“So, Mr President, please, spare me, tell Nigerians that the Integrity Governors are not part of them, we have integrity, we are not part of them,” Mr Wike said. 

Similarly, Mr Ortom denied touching monies meant for local government in his state, Benue.

He asked anti-graft agencies to investigate if he’s stolen funds meant for local government’s in Benue, stressing that all monies go directly to them from the federation account.

“It is a logical fallacy to say that all governors are criminals; all governors are stealing from local governments. I join Governor Wike to say, from 2015, let EFCC come, let ICPC come, let every other agency that can unearth this, as far as Benue State is concerned, let them bring it out, so that we know the people. There is no point generalising that all of us are evil people,” Mr Ortom added.