The Acting Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has denied directing that all accounts of the newly-created 33 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) and the existing 18 local councils be frozen.

Aiyedatiwa, who stated that the state government is committed to the proper functioning of the councils, said the caretaker chairmen of the councils would be unable to attend to any financial documents due to an existing court case over their inauguration.

Last week, heads of local council administrations in the state received a memo directing that spending and expenditure from the accounts of the councils be suspended.

The memo had heightened tension within the political scene of the state as the newly-created LCDAs were also instructed not to open new accounts. But speaking through the Commissioner for Information, Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, the acting governor said that at no time were the accounts of the councils frozen.

Ademola-Olateju, in a statement made available to The Guardian, said: “The news that the acting governor, Lucky Orimisan Ayedatiwa, has put a freeze on local councils’ accounts in the state is false and misleading.

“The government is aware of a suit filed by the opposition party before the State High Court, and we are hopeful that contending issues before the court will be decided shortly. While a date has been fixed for the conduct of local council elections in the state, the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) has started working on the delineation of a minimum of five councillorship electoral wards in each of the LCDAs.”

“On the replacement of the Chief of Protocol (CoP) by Aiyedatiwa, our attention has been drawn to the social media misrepresentation of our circular letter FAD/DG.156/98 of December 14, 2023 in respect of the preparation of the Acting Governor’s engagement, which has been mischievously reported to the effect that the Chief of Protocol to the Governor, Bola Alabi, has been placed on suspension.”

“The Chief of Protocol to the Governor has not been placed on suspension by the acting governor or any other person.
“It should be noted that the schedule for the preparation of the governor’s engagements is less than two per cent of the CoP’s responsibilities.

“Usually, suspension from duty would have warranted the removal of salary and privileges, which does not happen in this case. As we speak, Bola Alabi is busy with the acting governor. Nevertheless, the acting governor, Aiyedatiwa, is prepared, where necessary, to make changes that would guarantee the
effective running of the administration.

“Again, the public is implored to always confirm the veracity of every piece of information or news with respect to the Ondo State Government from appropriate quarters before dissemination.”