●Road Projects, Others suffer setbacks
There is apprehension and serious disquiet in Ondo State Government as Executive Members of the Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa groan in silence over alleged overbearing attitude of the Commissioner for Finance, Mrs Omowumi Isaac who was appointed alongside other Exco members in March this year.
Senior government official who preferred anonymity said “a number of Commissioners and aides of Mr. Governor are suffering in silence because the commissioner has not been releasing monies for a number of developmental projects that would aid the Governor’s election, next month.
The State Governor is favoured to win the forthcoming November 16, 2024 under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), but the concerned government official appears worried that Isaac’s alleged indifference to the timely completion of the ongoing projects may be a stumbling block for Governor’s electoral victory.
According to the vociferous official, “not only were the cabinet members appointed by Mr Governor suffering in silence, you just drive around the State and the State capital, Akure, you would observe that a number of contractors have left sites because the Finance Commissioner is not making available monies due to them till date.
“And this was after Mr Governor had approved a number of monies to be released to the MDAs and some contractors handling our ongoing projects. But she just stuck to her gun and care less about the ongoing infrastructural revolution of His Excellency by not releasing these monies.
“Expectedly, those projects inherited from former Governor, late Rotimi Akeredolu and the ones initiated by the current Governor himself are not receiving due attention of the finance ministry despite that the State has funds in excess of N200billion to fund projects and make life more abundant for the workers and masses of the State.
“Rumours are rife that the finance Commissioner is allegedly receiving ‘interests’ on the monies kept with the banks at the expense of the timely execution and completion of ongoing projects and release of funds meant for the MDAs,” the official claimed.
Reports say only few day ago, the Ondo state House of Assembly summoned the same Finance Commissioner due to some what the Assembly described as 'unresolved' state financial issues’.
When some newsmen visited her office in the Ministry of Finance, Alagbaka Akure to get her reaction, the Commisioner was said to have travelled outside the state while phone calls to her line were not answered.
Following the latest development, the official who spoke further lamented that “the Finance Commissioner is showing “everybody shege” as Mr. Governor in one of our recent state executive council meetings said his duty as the State helmsman is to approve but the final decision lies with the Commissioner for finance to make monies available.
“Everybody looked askance and in hush tones, beckoned to each other on whether Mr. Governor is helpless and unable to rein in, on this woman? The answer is yes and no. Yes because the woman is powerful that even former Governor Akeredolu also courted and respected her so much to the extent that former first lady, Betty Akeredolu had a running battle with her husband over her overbearing influence in the immediate past administration.
“And No, because Governor Aiyedatiwa appointed her like every other person working for him and therefore reserves the right and power to fire anyone including her. But our Oga is a gentleman to the core and believes that everyone must work in unison for the good governance and prosperity of the State.
“Presently, she has unfettered access to His Excellency and rightly so, but she is becoming increasingly too powerful and stubborn to work with others to entrench quality government that people of Ondo anxiously yearn for.
“Many of the ongoing projects have stopped with other infrastructures suffering lack of funding from the government. A number of contractors have been given approval to access monies from the government to continue our projects but Madam is really making things difficult for everyone,” he warned that things may degenerate further if the Commissioner continues this attitude to governance.
it would be recalled that Governor Aiyedatiwa assumed office after Rotimi Akeredolu's departure and dissolved the cabinet, appointing new members, including Isaac, in March.
The governor's decision to overhaul the governance structure was seen as a consolidation of power ahead of the election.
As the November election approaches, the tension within the Ondo State Government may escalate if the Finance Commissioner's attitude persists.
The official warned that things may degenerate further if Isaac continues to hinder governance.