Allegations of multi-billion naira infrastructure fraud and public fund diversion against some officials of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration have been rejected by the Osun State Government.
According to Naija News, the government called the petition purportedly prepared by the Osun Youths Initiative for Good Governance (OYIGG) “baseless, malicious, and politically motivated” in a statement released on Wednesday by Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment Kolapo Alimi.
According to Alimi, the allegations were intended to deceive the public and harm the standing of public servants and private citizens connected to the governor.
According to the petition, Rasheed Olalere Alabi, the state’s accountant general, and Kazeem Akinleye, the governor’s chief of staff, were accused of misusing federal monies without the consent of the legislature.
However, the government insisted that no public monies were misappropriated and refuted the accusation.
“Let it be stated in the clearest possible terms that the allegations of ‘multi-billion naira infrastructure fraud,’ ‘mismanagement of public funds,’ ‘impropriety in project execution,’ and the ridiculous claim of ‘diverting sundry monies received by the State from the Federal Government without legislative approval’ are baseless, spurious, malicious, unfounded, and entirely lacking in substance,” the statement said.
According to Alimi, it was deceptive to try to connect the Chief of Staff to purported misappropriation of public monies.
He pointed out that neither the statutory authority for public disbursement nor the custodian of the state treasury belonged to the office.
“At no time has the Chief of Staff to the Governor, who is not the custodian of the state treasury nor the statutory authorizing authority for public disbursement, diverted any public funds, whether directly or by proxy,” the statement continued.
The administration also backed the Accountant-General, claiming that he follows due authorization procedures, appropriation legislation, treasury circulars, and financial regulations.
The state government insisted that the Adeleke administration had continued to uphold due process, accountability, openness, and responsible financial management.
It stated that Osun had done well in evaluations of independent fiscal accountability, such as the BudgIT Fiscal Transparency League Table.
The announcement claims that Osun State placed among the top-performing states in terms of public accountability and fiscal transparency after receiving a perfect score in the fourth quarter assessment.
The purported inclusion of Deji Adeleke and Dupe Adeleke-Sanni in the petition was also denounced by the government.
According to Alimi, neither of these people worked for the Osun State Government and had any involvement in the management, storage, or distribution of public cash.
“Their gratuitous inclusion in the said petition is therefore not only reckless and irresponsible, but also clearly defamatory, malicious, and actionable in law,” he stated.
The government described the petition as a politically driven attempt to divert the administration and advised the people, media outlets, and other institutions to ignore it.
It further stated that no smear campaign would undermine its dedication to people-focused development, transparent governance, and infrastructure renovation.
