……..Accuses Gov of squandering N214bn Ogun LG funds in 5 years 

Adebutu’s allegation is ‘ranting of a drowning man’ — Ogun Govt

The 2023 People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu has called on President Bola Tinubu to call Governor Dapo Abiodun to order, saying that the governor’s conduct in the last one week poses threat to the nation’s democracy.

Adebutu also noted that Abiodun is

destroying the goodwill of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has in the Southwest of the country.

Adebutu, who stated this at a media parley in Abeokuta, alleged that the government under Governor Dapo Abiodun has mismanaged at least N214bn meant for the development of the 20 local government areas in the last five years.

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Adebutu alleged that Governor Abiodun is trying to use security agencies to harass and shut him up because he is an advocate of transparency, accountability and good governance at the grassroots.

He said, “President Bola Tinubu should call Governor Abiodun to order because the way the governor has conducted himself in the last one week, particularly over the LG poll is quite condemnable”.

“If under Yoruba presidency, the President will sit down and watch his people being killed and maimed because they want to exercise their franchise and vote the candidates of their choice, it will be very sad. The truth is that the governor is destroying whatever goodwill is left of the APC in the Southwest”.

The former governorship candidate of People’s Democratic Party in Ogun State, Oladipupo Adebutu on Wednesday alleged the government of Dapo Abiodun of mismanaging at least N214bn meant for the development of the local government in the last five years.

Adebutu said that this accounted for why Governor Abiodun has allegedly been using the security agencies to harass and shut him up because he has always demanded transparency, accountability and good governance at the grassroots.

He said “the reason they have been pursuing me and want to shut me up is because they are stealing the local government money. They don’t want the stealing of our patrimony to stop.

“At least in the last five years, the 20 Local Governments in the state have received nothing less than N214bn, but there is nothing to show for it, they cannot even cut the grasses at the local government Secretariats.

“In the years past, local government under the government of Otunba Gbenga Daniel were into construction of rural roads, drainages, motor parks, markets, rural electrification and lots more but that is now in the past”.

It would be recalled that Adebutu was detained by the Department of State Services on Monday and was also at the State Police command headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, on Tuesday over the allegation of violence that trailed the last Saturday’s local government elections in the State.

He alleged Governor Abiodun of bringing in military from Ibadan to attack the opposition members while thugs were brought from Ikorodu to unleash terror on his aides.

Adebutu said, “who are these soldiers that came from Ibadan, on whose orders? Who are the people that shot at one of the policemen attached to me since December 2022 to ensure my safety? The police officer is still lying critically ill at OOUTH?

The PDP Board of Trustee member insisted that no election took place on Saturday saying that over 4,000 polling units out of about 5244 polling units were not supplied with the voting materials.

Reacting to the allegation of local government funds, the State

government described it “as the ranting of a drowning man”

The State government in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Hon. Kayode Akinmade, said it was not surprised by the antics of the PDP chieftain, who it noted is currently under investigation by security agencies for acts of electoral violence and attempted murder, as he has acquired notoriety over the years for making baseless and empty claims that call his sanity into question.

It added that Adebutu has become like a wounded lion who is trying to save face after his recent travail at the hands of security agents over his electoral malfeasance on Saturday.

“We do not find it shocking that a man who aspired to govern Ogun State but was roundly rejected by voters would claim that a governor who is not a signatory to local government accounts squandered council funds amounting to N214 billion in five years.

“That means, conceptually, that the said local governments did not pay any salaries and did not execute any projects in those five years, and it says a lot about a governorship candidate whose own running mate described as a complete disaster”.

“If Ladi Adebutu, a child in an adult body, knows anything at all about the art of governance, let alone the activities of the Ogun State Government under Prince Dapo Abiodun, he would not be making such flippant, hollow, and jejune accusations.

“The fact is that at no time did Governor Abiodun touch a dime of LG funds in Ogun State, but Adebutu has to entertain his crowd.

“It has become quite characteristic of this devious character to lie against Governor Abiodun with satanic fervor any time he is called upon to account for his rich biography of crimes.

“For instance, the fact is well known that apart from his recent case, he is standing trial for vote buying and conspiracy, and was a fugitive in a foreign land for months before returning home to utter ignominy.

“Ladi Adebutu is a drowning clown who believes that he can achieve through rabble-rousing and blackmail what he couldn’t achieve through the electoral and court processes, where he failed in his desperate and ruinous bid to unseat a popular democratically elected governor.

“He is a man adept at accusations and name-calling but a complete failure where enterprise, dignity, and discipline are called for. He is desperate to be relevant and in the news at all costs, and those taking him seriously need evaluation, just like he himself needs mental evaluation.

“Accused of sending thugs to snatch ballots during the local council polls on Saturday, Adebutu, in the video doing the rounds, openly said that he doesn’t mind violent change.

“He is a sinking ship looking for someone to drag along to hell with him and should be completely ignored by right-thinking people.”