Ondo group tasks Aiyedatiwa on transparency, LG autonomy

…Demands release of council funds, reinvestment in healthcare

By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA – The Ondo Redemption Front (ORF), a civic organisation committed to accountability and good governance, has tasked Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to ensure transparency in the management of state resources and grant full autonomy to local governments in Ondo State.

The call was made during the group’s September edition of its State of the State Address held in Abuja on Monday.

The briefing was led by the ORF Chairman, Ayodeji Ologun, alongside the Co-Chairman, Mogbojuri Kayode, and Secretary, Adedotun Ajulo.

Ologun noted that the group, made up of concerned lawyers and civic actors, had consistently raised alarm over healthcare, governance, infrastructure, and financial accountability in Ondo State.

“Ordinarily, we ought to have had this press conference in Akure but our deep concern to draw the attention of the Federal Government on the Local Government funds in Ondo State have brought us here,” Ologun said.

He recalled that the Supreme Court, following a suit by the Attorney-General of the Federation, had affirmed the financial independence of local governments to receive allocations directly from the Federation Account.

He lamented that the ruling was yet to take effect in Ondo State, leaving councils underfunded.

“We hereby call on the Federal Government and the Attorney General of the Federation to revisit the implementation of the Supreme Judgment on the Local Government autonomy,” he appealed.

The group further criticised the state of healthcare delivery in Ondo, saying general hospitals were ‘in decay, poorly staffed and under-equipped.’

Ologun said pregnant women continued to face ‘the same old nightmares of poor maternal care’ while many primary health centres lacked drugs, basic supplies and electricity.

He also pointed to increased federal allocations to states, noting that with the implementation of the 2024 and 2025 budgets, about a trillion naira had come under the management of the Aiyedatiwa administration.

“The Ondo Redemption Front calls for the immediate and unconditional release of local government funds as released by the Federal Government through FAAC. We also urge the state government to release audited accounts of all bond proceeds and state finances,” Ologun added.

Kayode, the group’s Co-Chairman, stressed that governance must be transparent and people-oriented.

“Citizens should not be at the mercy of governance, so it is only right for the movement to tell us how the Ondo State funds have been used so far. It is the right of the people for the government to disclose this information,” Kayode said.

Ajulo, the group’s Secretary, said as civil society actors and residents of the state, they were compelled to speak out over the challenges facing Ondo people.

“It behooves the state government to take steps to address the concerns of the residents,” he said.

The ORF also urged the state government to reinvest in healthcare, rescue crumbling infrastructure, and allow the Ondo State House of Assembly to exercise genuine oversight free from partisanship.

The group added that political distractions must end in favour of service delivery and grassroots development.

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