ABEOKUTA– The former gubernatorial candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun state, Hon. Ladi Adebutu has chided the state governor, Dapo Abiodun for eroding President Bola Tinubu’s goodwill in the South West region.
Adebutu made this statement while speaking with newsmen in Abeokuta, on the heels of the recently concluded local government election in the state.
The former lawmaker also asserted that the state governor has rendered the local government in comatose, adding that all the huge fund allocated to it, has little or nothing to show for it.
“At least in the last five years, the 20 local governments in the state have received no less than N214bn, but there is nothing to show for it. They can’t even cut the grass in the local governments”, he said
Adebutu further accused the electoral umpire in the last local government election, in connival with the state government to perpetrate irregularities in suppressing the opposition parties.
He alleged that over 4,000 out of 5,244 polling units in the state did not receive voting materials, making the exercise a sham, adding that military personnel from Ibadan and thugs from Ikorodu were brought in to intimidate voters and opposition members.
He recounted an incident where a police officer assigned to his security detail was critically injured during an attack, leaving him hospitalized at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital.
“Who are these soldiers that came from Ibadan, and on whose orders? The truth is that the governor is destroying whatever goodwill is left of the APC in the Southwest,” he said
Adebutu, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, insisted that Abiodun’s actions posed a significant threat to democracy in Ogun State, while calling on President Tinubu to call the governor to order.
Reacting, the state government in a statement however dismissed Adebutu’s allegations, describing it as baseless, and political motivated
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Hon. Kayode Akinmade, described Adebutu as “a drowning man” resorting to unfounded claims.
“Governor Abiodun is not a signatory to local government accounts and could not have tampered with their funds. It is laughable for someone who was overwhelmingly rejected by voters to make such an outrageous claim”, he added
