We have never changed any local government account signatories. They should remain troubled. APM is just crying more than the bereaved
Local government officials in Osun State have been embroiled in a power struggle between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
On Wednesday, the state administration refuted reports that it was ordering career officers to transfer signatures to council accounts.
Earlier, Mr. Adewale Adebayo, the Osun chapter head of the Allied Peoples Movement, said that the government of Governor Ademola Adeleke was pressuring the heads of local administration and finance departments to change the names on council accounts.
Adebayo said, “We reliably gathered that Adeleke’s government has started taking 30 Local Government Area Finance Directors and Heads of Local Administration to an undisclosed location forcefully.
“This is unconnected to the contention over who controls the local government.
“The HLAs and the Directors of Finance were taken to these locations to be pressured into changing signatories of council accounts to the newly elected officials.
“These individuals have been reportedly held against their will, an act that undermines the principles of democracy and the rule of law.
“Despite judicial pronouncements from the Court of Appeal upholding the October 15, 2022, council election, the state government continues to act in a manner that contradicts the spirit of the verdict.”
The claims were quickly denied by Kolapo Alimi, the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, who responded to the allegations.
Alimi, “This is just an attempt to say something because the Commissioner for Local Government has confirmed that he never gave such a directive.
“They have made themselves look foolish in the eyes of the public, so they want to create a false narrative.
“We have never changed any local government account signatories. They should remain troubled. APM is just crying more than the bereaved.”