Abiodun, Adebutu trade words over harassment, intimidation
The 2023 People’s Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in Ogun State, Mr Oladipupo Adebutu, yesterday, urged President Bola Tinubu to call Governor Dapo Abiodun to order, saying that the governor’s conduct in the last one week poses threat to the nation’s democracy.
But in a swift reaction, the Ogun State government described Adebutu’s allegations as “the rantings of a drowning man.”
Adebutu, who stated this at a media parley in Abeokuta, alleged that the state government under Governor Dapo Abiodun has mismanaged at least N214 billion meant for the development of the 20 local government areas in the last five years.
Adebutu alleged that Governor Abiodun is trying to use security agencies to harass and shut him up because he is an advocate of transparency, accountability and good governance at the grassroots.
He said: “President Bola Tinubu should call Governor Abiodun to order because the way the governor has conducted himself in the last week, particularly over the LG poll is quite condemnable.
“If under a Yoruba presidency, the President will sit down and watch his people being killed and maimed because they want to exercise their franchise and vote the candidates of their choice, it will be very sad. The truth is that the governor is destroying whatever goodwill is left of the APC in the Southwest.
“The reason they have been pursuing me and want to shut me up is because they are stealing the local government money. They don’t want the stealing of our patrimony to stop.”
Ogun govt reacts
Reacting, the state government described Adebutu’s allegations as “the rantings of a drowning man.”
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, said it was not surprised by the antics of the PDP chieftain.
Akinmade, in a statement, said: “We do not find it shocking that a man who aspired to govern Ogun State but was roundly rejected by voters would claim that a governor who is not a signatory to local government accounts squandered council funds amounting to N214bn in five years.
“That means, conceptually, that the said local governments did not pay any salaries and did not execute any projects in those five years, and it says a lot about a governorship candidate whose own running mate described him as a complete disaster.
“The fact is that at no time did Governor Abiodun touch a dime of LG funds in Ogun State, but Adebutu has to entertain his crowd.”
