Wale Adedayo vs. Dapo Abiodun – by Lanre Banjo

The presentation of the “breakdown of the fund released to Local Governments in Ogun for the Execution of Developmental Projects Between Year 2020 to date” by the Chief Economic Adviser, Dapo Okubadejo, along with the Secretary to the State Government, Tokunbo Talabi, further blew the wind that clearly uncovered their concealed rump. When I first read the curriculum vitae of Okubadejo, I had tremendous professional respect for him, but this show of charade engaged in to protect the government mirrors unprofessionalism and perfidiousness to the public. As an Accountant and Auditor of over 35 years in practice, I feel ashamed of the professional conducts of both Okubadejo, the Accountant General, who was at the press conference, and the previous administration headed by a Chartered Accountant for failure to establish laws, set standards that would have prevented this sham and set a tone at the top that it is haram to tamper with local government source of revenues and their federal allocations.
When disputes arise about figures or public funds collected or spent, not in the current fiscal year but yester fiscal years, what I expect from a serious, patriotic and professional finance expert is the provision of audited financial statements, not a worthless piece of paper presented by the government officials at the press conference.

My understanding is that the accounting records of the local governments are supposed to be audited by the Auditor-General of the State. If such audited financial statements exist, the Auditor General of both the State and Local Governments should have been invited to make a presentation to the public with total amounts paid to Wale Adedayo’s local government. The fact that the Auditor Generals of both the State and Local Governments were not invited to speak at the press conference nullified the statement of sincerity by Governor Dapo Abiodun and signaled that the Administration has something to hide.