Fresh crisis looms as Aiyedatiwa freezes Ondo local council accounts

The Ondo State Acting Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has frozen the accounts of the local government administrations in the state.

He took over as acting governor after Akeredolu travelled abroad for another round of medical check-ups during the week.

Before the development, Aiyedatiwa had been involved in a running battle with his boss and the state House of Assembly, which initiated a move to impeach him for alleged gross misconduct in September.

He took the decision a few weeks after Akeredolu appointed caretaker chairmen for 18 local government areas and the 33 local council development areas in the state.

READ ALSO: Aiyedatiwa make broadcast as gov, says ‘well-being of a man is in the hands of God’

In a memo signed by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Omojuwa Olusegun, the acting governor also banned the council chairmen from opening new accounts.

It was addressed to the heads of local government administrations in the state and seen by journalists on Saturday.

The memo read: “Distinguished HOLGAs, Your Excellency, the Acting Governor of Ondo State, has directed that all spending and expenditure from local government accounts should be suspended, with no signing of checks, no change of signatories, and no withdrawal of any sort until further directive.

“Please adhere strictly to instruction and be guided.”

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        Introduction  A free, independent, and vibrant press is one of the strongest pillars of any democratic society. It is against this background that most democratic countries  make constitutional provisions for a free press . Others even go further to enact specific laws to make affairs of governments freely available to the public. Currently, there are more than  130 countries in the world that have free press laws. They include Sweden, United States, France, South Africa and Nigeria. Nigeria did not only make  constitutional provisions in Sections 22 and 39(1) of the 1999 Constitution ( as amended) but also went ahead to enact the Freedom of Information Act  in 2011. Section 22 of the 1999  Constitution states: “ “The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media  shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter( ie Chapter II) and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people”  Section 39(1)  of same Constitution states : “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference” ..  To complement these constitutional provisions, Section 1 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) states “Notwithstanding anything contained in any other Act, law or regulation, the right of any person to access or request information, whether or not contained in any written form, which is in the custody or possession of any public official, agency or institution howsoever described, is established.” while Section  2(2), states that: “A public institution shall ensure the proper organization and maintenance of all information in its custody in a manner that facilitates public access to such information”  Primary Purpose of FOIA  According to the Act, its primary purpose is to make information about public records freely available to every Nigerian in the public interest. …

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