VAM News Update
Former chairmen of the 18 local government areas of Ondo State have debunked the claim of drawing salary from the state treasury two months after the expiration of their tenure.
This is just as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) raised the alarm that the council chairmen had been receiving salaries despite leaving office.
Following the development, the local government chairmen on Thursday threatened to file a lawsuit against the PDP for defamation.
The Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kennedy Peretei, had alleged that the council chairmen have been collecting salaries after their three-year tenure lapsed on August 30.
According to the immediate past Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, in Ondo State, Augustine Oloruntogbe, the allegation was a false one in its entirety.
Oloruntogbe stated that, “We deny the allegation vehemently, and it is a lie from the pit of hell. Since we left the local government, we have never received a dime from our local government.
“Even when I was appointed as one of the panel members to chair the palliative, I had to send a representative since I was no longer in the local government. We have not had any financial relationships with our local governments since we left. We left on August 30, 2023.”
Aroloye, who was the Chairman of Idanre Local Government, added, “We have not been collecting salaries. We are therefore instructing that the allegation by the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Ondo State, Kennedy Peretei, should be immediately withdrawn and an apology given within the next 24 hours; otherwise, he will hear from our lawyers.
“We are men and women of integrity. Some of us built our names over the years before we entered politics.
“We will not allow our names to be rubbed in the mud under the guise of playing politics. We won’t accept this. If they have been doing it, we won’t allow this to go unchallenged.”