‘War’ in Ondo over alleged corruption, family government
BABATOPE OKEOWO reports on the diatribe between the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State and the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government over allegations of corruption and running of a family government to the detriment of the people of the state against Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu
T here is no doubt of a raging war in Ondo State. It is not a war of guns and cudgels; it is a war of words, of accusations of fraud, trickery and misrule countered with accusations of lies, and search for relevance.
The main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), recently reinvigorated by the reentrance of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the immediate past governor of the state and his political associates, has been consistent in describing the Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu’s government a government of the nuclear family members, run with reckless and fraudulent abandon.
But the government through the Commissioner for Information, Donald Ojogo has said the opposition was crying wolf where there is none, saying the opposition is seeking political relevance and revive its dwindling image.
Like the state government, the ruling APC has also not been silent; it persistently described the PDP as an unserious and attention seeking platform that has nothing tangible doing.
According to the PDP, the APC government in Ondo State is nothing but that of “Arakunrin Akeredolu, Arabirin Betty and Mr. Babajide who either directly or indirectly hold all the levers of power to their selfish advantage.” In statements after statements, the opposition party has not stopped chronicling incidences of such alleged sleaze and illegality.
It claims that salaries are being owned public servants in arrears of more than six months at the very least and up to 14 months in some institutions of government.
According to Kennedy Peretei, the Publicity Secretary of Ondo State PDP, developments in the state run contrary to the major plank of Akeredolu and APC’s campaign promises, which is regular payment of salaries. He added that the pilfering of the state resources by the first family is legendary.
His words: “Every passing day in Ondo State, one is confronted with the reality that there is a very slim possibility of Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, the governor of Ondo State and his APC to completely serve out his remaining tenure.
This speculation is fueled by the financial recklessness, brazen lack of respect for rules by Akeredolu’s wife, Betty, his son, Babajide and lately his daughter, Teniola and her husband Michael Olatunde. “Immediately Akeredolu was sworn in as governor of Ondo State in 2017, he registered about 13 companies.
These companies have been shamelessly used by the first family to receive contracts from state ministries and departments. Checks from the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja, showed that all the companies have the same or related directors and secretary.
When contractors in the state hardly get paid for jobs, those awarded to the first family get prompt payment and to rob salt on injury, they and some of their cronies brag about it. “A few months ago, the Ondo State government placed embargo on all forestry activities. This was done so as to hand over all forest operations to Babajide Akeredolu.
When the operations were restored, a new sheriff was already in town. One Ilesanmi Brainbox was mandated to collect a handsome sum of N500,000 from the operators everyday and paid directly to Babajide’s bank account. Even if Ondo State was a territory conquered by Akeredolu, he should have acted with some modicum of decency.
“The widely advertised and celebrated Sunshine Countdown Concert was anchored by Michael Olatunde, Akeredolu’s son-in law. The Ondo State Ministry of Information parted with a whooping N500 million of taxpayers’ money.
There was no committee set up for the event, no State Executive Council approval was gotten for it; just hurriedly put together to patronise Teniola, Akeredolu’s daughter. Everywhere you look in the state, what you find is Akeredolu, his wife, children and their spouses as though on rampage, looting blindly.
“The world of grandeur and opulence in which these people live is in direct contrast with the lives of the people of the state. Retired workers of the state owned Owena Press Limited, publishers of Hope Newspaper, had recently in an emotional letter addressed to the governor, appealed for the payment of their gratuity.
In the words of former Editor of The Hope, Dr. Banji Ayoola, ‘I can tell you that six of our members including a former head of Features Desk, two photographers, a gateman, and two drivers have died of sicknesses that could be easily treated if money had been available, while some are bed ridden and unable to help themselves. Notably, six of the company’s 37 former staff have died without their gratuity.’
“Around the same time, workers of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo took to the streets, protesting 13 months of unpaid salaries.
The workers lamented that, while they were hungry, Akeredolu and his cronies were erecting new buildings in Owo, right before their eyes. In the same South-West Nigeria, Oyo State workers got thirteenth month pay in the month of December.
The explanations of lean resources of the state can no longer suffice. “Mrs. Akeredolu, on her part has ensured that, no board is constituted for the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC).
All the BEMORE and FOWOSO projects are fully funded by OSOPADEC. Short of directly signing cheques, Betty is the Alpha and Omega of OSOPADEC.
The commission has not executed a single project since the inception of the Akeredolu tenure. While the 18 local government areas of Ondo State contributed eighteen million naira for third FOWOSO Summit last month, OSOPADEC paid Betty more than N50 million for the summit. Only a heartless person can undertake this kind of blind looting in the face of penury that is everywhere.
The greed displayed by the first family and their cohorts is only reminiscent of Ali Baba and the forty thieves, a folk tale from the One Thousand and One Nights, added to the collection in the 18th Century by French Translator Antoine Galland.”
Firing back at the PDP, the state Commissioner for Information, Ojogo, said the government will not descend into the arena of perfidy and frivolities triggered by idleness, to trade words with the opposition party. He added this was not the first time the opposition party will cry in this mindless manner. His words: “Of course, you don’t except a child not to cry when flogged.
The PDP must be seen to be saying something, at least. We can only sympathise with them even though we won’t share in their self-inflicted pains.” Ojogo consequently challenged the opposition to prove the allegation of pilfering against the government and write a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) if it was sure of its fact.
He particularly accused the opposition party of feeding the public with fake information, while describing its statement as an attempt to smear the image of the present administration in the state, the governor and his family.
“We challenge PDP to publish the names of the directors of those companies belonging to the member of the Akeredolu’s family and report to the anti-graft agency, EFCC.
This response in respect of the PDP’s latest misadventure mistaken for opposition is not to glorify the rudderless camp; it is to counsel the seemingly disorganized ilk and for the sake of general public at the mercy of PDP’s disingenuous misinformation.
“Their assertion in respect of 13 companies they claimed were registered by the governor’s family in 2017 without evidence exposes the juvenile and pedestrian compure of the PDP. It is sheer waste of precious media space to assert without evidence to prove. The public deserves to know more.
Therefore, PDP must hurry to report this to the EFCC for investigation,” Ojogo said. Apparently reacting to the challenge of the government, the PDP provided the evidence to prove the allegation of pilfering against the government and said it has done the needful by petitioning the antigraft agency about the finances of the state.
Peretei in a statement said: “When l released the series 10 of ‘Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu’s Misrule’ it was greeted with disbelief. Some said it was a fairy tale.
Others said Ondo State was too enlightened for such mindless looting. Even the clueless government information machinery dismissed me as idle, challenging me to provide the facts.
“Today, l serve only the first course of documentary evidence, independent, authorised search from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) portal, so that, the doubting Thomases can come to terms with the fact that, indeed, Ondo State is under siege with Akeredolu and his family.
“Every document prepared for Ondo State Government carries Erudit Consulting. It is owned and operated by Babajide Akeredolu using a proxy, Ibrahim Ashanke. The Providus Bank, Akure Branch account run by Erudit shows it is all Babajide’s transactions. Egimka Nigeria Limited is used for contracting purposes and has same Directors as Erudit, Pentabon and Egimka. The account details of these companies show they are all run by Babajide Akeredolu.
“Terrenovo Agro solely owned by Babajide Akeredolu is part of the N5.5 billion LPG project just commenced by ODSG. CLARIBET CONSULTING LIMITED is owned by Babajide and his mother, Betty.
The Secretary is Babajide’s Personal Assistant, Damhindi Msendoo, whose name appears alternately as Director or Secretary of most of these companies. Limerite Limited is owned by Babajide Akeredolu and Ilesanmi Ademola (Brainbox).
The Company Secretary is Damhindi Msendoo. “PENTAGON MOTUSI LTD is owned by Babajide Akeredolu and Damhindi Msendoo as the secretary. JAKOVIE ENERGY is owned by Babajide Akeredolu and being fronted for by Damhindi Msendoo as the MD. Jakovie has been awarded a rural electricity project in Ondo State.
“For those who think we are peddling ‘beer parlour’ rumours, it is better to wake up from your slumber to join the rest of us to rescue and rebuild Ondo State. Take your time to glean through the documents. We are not arm-chair critics. We do our due diligence.
As critical stakeholders, we cannot fold our hands and allow this to continue. As to the request to petition the EFCC, the advice is un-necessary as, action is already being taken.”
As the claims and counterclaims between the Ondo State government and the PDP raged, the PDP threw another salvo, this time accusing the State House of Assembly of a plan to protect the first family by passing into law, anticorruption bill forwarded to it by the Governor Akeredolu. Peretei said the law was meant to shield the family of the governor who had been accused of fraud from prosecution.
He berated the State House of Assembly under the leadership of Hon. David Oleyeloogun for the passage of the law, which he said was not in the interest of the citizens of the state.
According to him, the bill tagged “a Bill for a law to establish the Ondo State Public Complaints, Financial Crime and Anti-corruption Commission and others connected thereto 2021” was carefully crafted to give sweeping exclusive powers to the agency in matters of corruption in the state.
He added: “The PDP, Ondo State chapter is in full support of institutional framework to stamp out corruption in the state if only the intentions are genuine and transparently honest.
The Akeredolu government has in several ways demonstrated that it is irredeemably soaked in the sea of corruption, especially his family. He can therefore, not go behind the door to institute laws as subterfuge for his activities to circumvent the law.
“Sections 14(3) and 14(4) of the proposed law states inter alia: ‘The Commission shall upon the commencement of this law, take over the investigation of all Anti-corruption and Financial crimes cases involving the finances and assets of Ondo State government being ;investigated by any other agency.’
“Section 14(4) states: ‘the agency shall cause an investigation to be conducted into the properties of any public servant(s) within the jurisdiction of the state; if it appears to the Commission that the person’s life style and extent of the properties are not justified by the person’s legitimate source of income.’
“The powers given to the Attorney General of the state to regulate the operations of the commission, if the bill is passed all point to a subtle legal cover to do more unthinkable damage to the treasury of the state.”
But Ojogo said the law was meant to serve the people of the state and strengthen true federalism being promoted by lovers of democracy in the country.
According to him, the PDP’s claim that the anti-corruption bill as passed by the state Assembly is to allegedly protect the governor and his family from wrongdoings is not only preposterous but laughable.
He added that it exposed the level of seriousness of a supposed opposition bereft of ideas, unwilling to obtain facts and self-cabined against information.
“The Bill to establish the Ondo State Public Complaints, Financial Crime and Anti-corruption Commission and Other Matters Connected thereto 2021, as passed by the State Assembly, was deliberated upon at the level of the State Executive Council severally and subjected to wider consultations before it was transmitted to the state Assembly for necessary action.
“The Anti-Corruption Law will serve the purpose of the state, rather than the warped imagination of the grossly deficient opposition. Those who started the formulation of the Law had in mind to decentralize the anticorruption fight to the federating units of the Nigerian federation.
It suffices therefore that the rush to disseminate falsehood appears more important to the opposition PDP than the need for a truly federal Nigeria “For the records, the law has been in existence in Kano State since 2008. Lagos State followed suit by passing the Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission Bill into Law.
Aside Lagos in the South-West, the law is in operation in Ogun and Oyo states. Interestingly, Oyo is a PDP governed state. Undoubtedly, Ondo PDP needs help.
“More importantly, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous judgement delivered on December 20, 2021 in the case of Dr. Joseph Nwobike (SAN) vs Federal Republic of Nigeria has ruled that Section 46 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act should be construed within the narrow confines of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, the percusor to the establishment of the EFCC – to prevent illicit financial outflow from Nigeria.
The matter centers on one of the issues of our true federalism.
It interrogates the rationale behind a federal agency exercising oversight powers on States under the guise of financial crimes, when each state has its Penal and Criminal Codes dealing with such offences,” the Ondo State Commissioner for Information said.
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