As the governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, continues to be embroiled in controversies surrounding his handling of the state’s affairs, a former local government chairman in the state has once again highlighted one of the outstanding qualities that distinguish Sen. Otunba Gbenga Daniel.
Otunba Daniel served as the governor of the state from 2003 to 2011, after which Sen. Ibikunle Amosun took over, spending another eight years before the current administration of Abiodun.
Recall that the executive chairman of Ijebu East Local Government, Wale Adedayo, recently accused the governor of mishandling the local government allocations. READ DETAILS HERE
In response to this development, the former local government chairman, Prince Wale Osiyemi, revealed that Senator Gbenga Daniel, during his tenure as Governor, never withheld funds allocated to local governments.
According to him, even when the local governments received an unexpected influx of revenue from crude oil, instead of withholding these funds, he established the FICU task force responsible for overseeing and monitoring all the projects undertaken by the local government chairmen, ensuring their successful completion.
Prince Osiyemi’s revelation sheds light on Senator Daniel’s proactive approach to governance. It is evident that during his time as governor, the senator representing Ogun East district at the 10th national assembly prioritized the development of local governments and took proactive measures to ensure that the funds allocated to them were utilized for the betterment of the communities.
This revelation presents a positive image of Senator Gbenga Daniel’s leadership and his commitment to transparent and accountable governance.
“Sha Jen dake. Mainly cos I promised 2 leaders here I’ll try very hard to remain quiet over DAs matter. He is yet our proudly incorporated ‘privileged Governor.’
“As a former award-winning Local Government chairman, I can honestly tell you that in my time, our former Governor and now Sen Otunba Gbenga Daniel NEVER withheld any Local Government Money, even when LGS got crude oil windfall. Instead, he set up the Ficu task force to monitor all the projects executed by chairmen to ensure completion. Quality. And that it wasn’t a white elephant project or conduit pipe. So much so that we light-heartedly coined the state anthem into ‘ise sha ise sha omo ogun ise’ (compulsory work). Instead of ‘ise ya!’ I don’t know how the Governor would recover from this, considering his already plummeted approval ratings in Ogun state. I come in peace,” he wrote.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
