Ogun State Government, yesterday, said the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration had often been augmenting the funds allocated to councils in the state from the Federation Account to enable them to meet their obligations.

This is coming on the heels of a letter credited to Chairman of Ijebu East Local Council, Wale Adedayo, alleging zero revenue allocation to councils in the state since 2021.

The state government, which said it had never tampered with councils’ funds, wondered how adding to the funds allocated to the councils to enable them to meet their obligations amounted to hijacking their funds.

It said funds meant for councils in the state were being handled by the constitutionally-recognised Joint Account and Allocation Committee (JAAC). In a statement signed by Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Lekan Adeniran, the government said JAAC members ensure that the third-tier of government gets the required allocations for optimal performance.

It noted that at the last meeting of JAAC, which was held at the Conference Hall, Oba’s Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, and widely reported in the media, over N5 billion was shared among the 20 local councils, out of which over N2 billion went into paying teachers’ salaries.

“Between May 2023 when the governor was sworn in for the second term and July 2023, the JAAC shared among 20 councils N4.531 billion, N4.444 billion and N4.497 billion respectively on first line charges and just last week, N5.2 billion was shared among the councils for the month of August,” the statement said.

“First-line charges, including local council staff salaries and pensions; primary school teachers’ salaries and pensions; healthcare workers’ salaries and pensions and emoluments for traditional rulers are tabled for discussion and fund allocation at the JAAC meetings”, the statement added.

The statement further said that this same pattern had been followed since Abiodun took over the leadership of the state in 2019. The governor, the statement said, recently directed the councils to identify critical roads that require government’s attention in their domains, with some already commissioned.