Group to EFCC, ICPC: Release reports of probe into Ogun LG funds

A group, Lygel Youths and Leadership Initiative (LYLI), has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) to release their investigation reports into the local government funds in Ogun State.

LYLI made the demand through its Executive Director, Lekan Oladapo, at a news briefing it addressed on Monday in Abuja.

The group, which expressed concern about the management of local government funds in the state, alleged lack of openness in the award of contracts.

Oladapo said: “The most glaring internal crisis of this administration remains the strangulation of the third tier of government. “Without a robust and functioning local government administration, there is hardly any programme of the Federal Government that can work in any part of the country, Ogun State inclusive.

“We recall the 2023 petition by the former Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government, Hon. Wale Adedayo, who courageously affirmed that the Ogun State Government had consistently withheld Federal Allocations and Ecological Funds meant for the 20 local governments in the state.

“Despite the administration’s denials, the reality on ground has indeed shown that the Local Governments have operated under a ‘zero allocation’ reality, where they are unable to perform basic functions like rural road grading or maintaining primary health centres without begging the state executive for ‘intervention funds.’”

According to the group, this is a direct affront to the Supreme Court’s ruling on financial autonomy for Nigeria’s 774 local governments. “It is also a direct assault on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s efforts to reposition the grassroots for quality developments,” it said.

The group also questioned what it described as the “closed-door” nature of public procurement in Ogun State. It, therefore, challenged the state government to show the people a major, newly constructed and fully functional state hospital built in the last seven years.

According to the group, out of over 530 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs), the administration admitted in late 2023 to only renovating about 42, which is less than 10 percent.

It, therefore, urged the EFCC and the ICPC to make public their reports on how the funds allocated to the local government areas in the state were spent.