The Ademola Adeleke Transition Committee has again raised the alarm over the ongoing plan to move the humongous amount of money out of Osun State Water Corporation, the illegal activities of an auctioneer from Iragbiji and the current diversion of funds across local governments in the state.
In a statement issued on Wednesday at Osogbo, signed by the Chairman, Media/Publicity Sub-committee, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, the committee disclosed that credible reports from the water corporation indicated an ongoing plan to divert almost N200 million naira using fictitious cover and activities.
“We learn on good authority that recently released funds to the water corporation are about to be frittered away by unscrupulous elements. To fast track, the dubious withdrawal of the fund, the GM on terminal leave has reportedly returned to supervise the disbursement of the fund, contrary to financial regulations. More so, somebody has been appointed to cover his schedule while on leave. “Papers are being raised to cover the spending, which we gathered is a mere cover to loot the corporation’s account,” the statement narrated.
The Committee called on all actors within the agency to be aware that we are watching closely and any tampering with the fund will be seriously revisited and culprits will be brought to book.
Iragbiji Auctioneer
“The Committee also wishes to alert the public of the activities of an illegal auctioneer from Iragbiji who is said to be operating from the Government House and who is reportedly selling off several properties of the government.”
“We received several messages from the public seeking action to checkmate unwarranted sales of government properties. We learnt that the Nigeria Association of Auctioneers has equally raised a red flag on the subject without success.
“A fake auctioneer who is parading before the ministry as an Iragbiji indigene and as a brother to the Governor is being used by some dubious government workers to sell government properties.” “Even we gathered that there are some controversial industrial water pipes worth millions of naira that are being sold away,” the committee further noted.
While warning against the ongoing pilfering of government assets, the committee urged Governor Oyetola to investigate the activities of the fake auctioneer and stop the criminal activities of the said Iragbiji indigene.
The Transition Committee is also sad to inform the public that some top local government functionaries of the All Progressive Congress are already bolting away with council funds following the criminal directive to return allocated funds to the state ministry.
“We have it on good authority that the Council Secretary for Ayedire local government has disappeared with N8 million naira belonging to the local government. This, we gathered, was a direct fallout of the reported directive on local governments to return their last month’s allocations to the state.
“While Ayedire’s case is known due to the vigilance of some local staff, it was learnt that similar criminal activities are ongoing across the local governments. This is reprehensible and unacceptable.
“We decried the deliberate looting of our common patrimony. We condemn unequivocally the deliberate or unintentional loss of control over state finance, leading to what appears to be a systematic plundering of the treasury in assets and cash.
“We call on Governor Oyetola to intervene urgently and call his team to order. We don’t want to believe the Governor issued a directive for such nefarious activities that have become so pervasive to the extent that members of the public are daily sending scam alerts to our dashboard and situation room. Losing an election should not be a licence for the abandonment of critical state responsibilities, which include securing and protecting state assets in all ramifications.
