Federal Allocation: Ogun LG Chairman loses as court dismisses application to stop probe
Aremu Sosanya, Abeokuta
An Ogun State High Court, sitting in Ijebu Ode has dismissed an ex-parte application filed by the suspended Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government, Mr Wale Adedayo, asking the court to stop further investigations and actions by Councilors of the council, probing him on allegations of financial mismanagement.
In its ruling on the ex-parte argued by Barrister O. T. Are, standing in for A.M. Kotoye SAN, on behalf of Mr. Adedayo, the presiding judge, Justice A.A. Omoniyi dismissed the application in “its entirety.”
It would be recalled that Councilors of Ijebu East Legislative Council recently suspended Adedayo in continuation of investigations on alleged financial malpractices and directed the Council Vice Chairman to take over, pending the conclusion of its investigation.
The Council legislators said they had received several allegations against Mr. Adedayo.
Some of the allegations levelled against Mr. Adedayo included; that the Chairman withdrew millions from the local government account for empowerment in 2022, but no empowerment was done to date, wastage of million naira on August 20, 2022, on Isese festival, N250,000 duty tour allowance for the Chairman and other top functionaries in June 2023 and another N250,000 duty tour allowance for the Chairman and other top officials engagement.
Other allegations are; that the Chairman purportedly spent N426,000 on the production of a report on the 2020 ‘Jigbo’ festival in Ijebu East, when we were even yet elected, inauguration expenses of Women in Politics in Ijebu East LG N350,000 in 2022, but no money was released to the women group, among others.
Entertainment and other logistics expenses during the commissioning of Legislative Building building N350k on the 18th of April 2023. Another entertainment on the same commissioning of the Legislative Building N295k same day, 18th of April 2023″.
“The second 8.2 million sent from phase 2 of the project (tables and the chairs for schools) 20 (twenty) chairs were made with N8.2m. (Eight million two hundred thousand naira)”.
“Another N20 million sent from the state is nowhere to be found.”
“Another N15 million sent from the state went the same way without any project to show for it.
“Award of two boreholes at a scandalous price of N1.8 million each, totalling N3.6 million for just two boreholes.
Mr. Wale Adedayo was also accused of illegal tax collection from Ijebu East Okada riders and drivers via what he called “levy” without the approval of the Legislative Council, which is double taxation for the people of Ijebu East during this tough period.
Are informed the court of the motion ex-parte dated September 6, 2022, praying for an interim order restraining the defendants, their agents, and privies from further proceeding on the letter of invitation to the claimant asking him to appear before the Legislative Council on September 14, 2023, or in the alternative to order parties to maintain the status quo.
In its ruling, the court noted that the application by the plaintiff was not timely since he had received a notice on 31st August 2023, of the said resolution but waited till September 11, 2023, before filing his application.
“Delay defeats equity,” the judge said.
The claimant was ordered to put the Defendants on notice and come back for the hearing of the originating summons on September 22, 2023.
