Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State
By Toba Suleiman
Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State has threatened legal action against the leadership of the State Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), for accusing him of deducting N1 billion from the monthly allocations meant for the 16 local government councils in the state.
It would be recalled that one of the national dailies (not THISDAY) had published over the weekend that Fayemi was deducting N1billion monthly from the Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) fund.
Also, in defence of the state governor, the leadership of the state chapter of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Sunday at a press briefing in Ado-Ekiti denied the allegation, describing it as baseless.
Briefing journalists, the state chairman of ALGON, Rotimi Ajidara, said: “We have taken the pains to reconcile all sums paid into the JAAC Account from FAAC with amount distributed and found no iota of truth in the allegation.”
But, the governor, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr. Olayinka Oyebode, and made available to journalists in Ado-Ekiti, gave a seven-day ultimatum to the leadership of NULGE to withdraw the allegation.
According to the statement, “the allegation which is not only baseless, but a calculated attempt to dent the image of the governor and the good record of his administration, has been orchestrated in the online and a particular print media with the sole aim of causing disaffection among Ekiti workers and also discrediting the person of the governor.
“Contrary to claims by NULGE leaders, that only N1,345,649,056.01 was released to the LGAs in March, records show that N2,835,724,325.23 was released. Also for the month of May, where NULGE alleged that only N1,476,368,871.53, it is on record that the councils got the sum N2,064,845,343.63.
“Needless to say that Governor Fayemi takes serious exception to the NULGE leadership’s handling of the allegation which has no iota of truth. It is on record that the state governor had, on several occasions, stated clearly that he does not fiddle with the allocations meant for the councils. The governor still stands by his word.
“It is also an incontrovertible fact that Kayode Fayemi came to government with two major credentials - his character and integrity. Thus, his actions and policies are predicated on these two unique credentials which he cherishes and ever willing to protect and preserve,” the statement added.
“Therefore for the purpose of record, it is important to state unequivocally that at no time did the governor order the deduction of N1billion from the allocations meant for the councils as alleged by NULGE and orchestrated by some political charlatans in the dubious attempt to score cheap political point.
“As a matter of fact, a simple breakdown of the monthly allocations to Ekiti State and the 16 councils shows that it is practically impossible to deduct N1billion from the councils’ allocation.
“It is quite ridiculous for anyone to claim that N1 billion is deducted from the councils’ allocation giving the fact that what is accrued to the 16 LGAs are usually pre-distributed at the Federation Account Allocation Committee based on some sharing indices,” Fayemi said.