Controversy has arisen over the allegations that Dr. Olayide Adelami, the deputy governor of Ondo state, and his assistants spent N130 million in government funds on hotel expenses in 2024.
Ever since he took office in February of last year, after his official accommodations at the Government House Ground were renovated, Dr. Adelami and his staff have been residing in hotel flats.
During the general elections in 2023, the official quarters were transformed into a situation room and computer center for the state’s All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ijanusi Olawale, the director of student mobilization for the Ondo State PDP campaign committee, stated that instead of using taxpayer funds for hotel expenses, the state government ought to have given Adelami access to the recently refurbished VIP lodge.
Ijanusi said, “Despite spending a huge amount of money renovating the VIP lodge, all the lodge occupants had been flushed out.
“The Deputy governor should be temporarily allocated the VIP lodge within the government house pending the period the Deputy governor’s lodge will be completed.”
A top government official also said, the deputy governor and his assistants were accommodated in these hotels, and they have been staying at different hotels for the past year and outstanding invoices for the hotel accommodations could not be paid with the funds issued by the Ministry of Finance for the quarter.
Due to renovations at his official government quarter, the deputy governor occasionally stayed in a hotel apartment in Akure, according to Rahman Adekunle Yusuf, Special Assistant to the Governor on Digital Media.
He refuted the claim that public funds were being wasted by the deputy governor’s prolonged hotel stay.