Akeredolu freezes Local government account

Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu

The Ondo State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, has frozen accounts of the 18 local government councils in the state, just as he ordered the removal of political appointees from the payment voucher.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the directive was contained in a circular sent to all the 18 local government areas within the state.

The action of the governor, according to a source would prevent the local government chairmen to have access to the accounts of their respective councils until the embargo is lifted.

A source who spoke with our correspondent said, “The government has frozen the councils’ accounts since last week and all the council chairmen are aware of this already.”

“The implication of this is that the chairmen have been rendered powerless financially because they will not be able to take or spend any money from the council’s purse henceforth.”

Speaking on the development, the state chairman of the Ondo State chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, (ALGON) Mr. Bayo Alarapon, who confirmed the development but said the association had not yet decided on the next action on the matter.

Alarapon, who is the chairman of the Akure South Local Government said, “We have not really gone into the matter, but we are already looking into it and whatever we decide later, we will let the world know.”

The chairmen and the counsellors of the councils were elected on the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in April 2016 during the local government election in the state.

The affected appointees included, the secretaries of the councils, personal assistants, special advisers, chiefs of staff among others.

Culled from : http://tribuneonlineng.com/akeredolu-freezes-local-government-account/