The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Osun State Chapter, ALGON, has warned against opening council accounts in politicians’ names, emphasising that doing so would amount to diverting public funds.
Speaking with newsmen in Osogbo on Thursday, Sarafa Awotunde-led ALGON stated that the Central Bank’s move to open accounts with the signatures of APC-sacked council officials only, instead of civil servants in the council, is not only illegal but also a threat to the welfare of the state’s people.
Awotunde recalled that an APC governorship aspirant, Mr Kunle Adegoke, publicly admitted that CBN opened accounts in the names of Osun local government councils; however, the signatories to the account are APC members recruited to claim the positions of legitimate civil servants of the local government.
He added that APC members conniving with CBN to impersonate statutory civil servants as signatories to local government accounts is against every establishment of the law, stressing that politicians do not sign government cheques in a democratic world.
Awotunde therefore called on the CBN, if it opened illegal accounts, to close it to avoid diverting public funds into private accounts.
His words, “By law and by the reckoning of the Ministry of Local Government, the Local Government Service Commission, and the Auditor-General for Local Governments in Osun State, the only lawful signatories are civil servants; not APC members or mambers of any other political party.
“The CBN can simply contact the various commercial banks to confirm and authenticate the genuine signatories to the accounts of the 30 Local governments in Osun State. They are civil servants, not political party members.
“We are the authentic ALGON of Osun State, and we remain the only authority recognized by law to administer local government funds. Even at that, we do not sign cheques; civil servants do.
“This unfolding scandal at the CBN constitutes not only impersonation but a deliberate attempt to divert public funds. It is a matter of national importance that must be urgently investigated. The Central Bank of Nigeria, under the leadership of its Governor, must immediately probe the actions of its officials in Osogbo and call the APC lawyer, Mr. Kunle Adegoke to substantiate his claims on national television”.
