Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, has warned the All Progressives Congress, APC, members parading as local government chairmen and councillors against approaching the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for opening of accounts.

Alimi gave the warning during a media chat with members of the Osun Online Publishers Association, OOPA, at the Osun State Government Secretariat on Wednesday.

Alimi, who maintained that Osun State is not a Banana Republic, warned that any attempt by the sacked chairmen to collude with the Central Bank of Nigeria or any government agencies to withdraw local government funds would lead them to prison.

He insisted that they had no constitutional right to unilaterally open account for local governments at the apex bank.

Ekwutosblog gathered that last week the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, directed council chairmen in the country to approach the CBN for opening of their local government accounts.

Chairmen elected on the platform of PDP who double as Osun ALGON chairman and Secretary, Awotunde Sarafadeen and Lukman Afolabi were the two officials who attended ALGON Southwest Zonal meeting few days ago held in Lagos State.

Speaking on this, Alimi said, “On the issue of local government documents for opening of accounts as per who is going to do documentation. I can boldly say it that they (APC LG officials) dare not go there, we are running a system, local government chairman is not a signatory to any account in the system.

“The governor you see is not a signatory to any account in the state, he can only approve.

“There is nobody that is champion for life. If you’re in office today, and anybody thinks that because they have the federal government’s backing, they can allow someone to access the Local Government account and spend a kobo, they will go to prison later. This is not a banana republic; we have the rule of law and democracy.

“Don’t let anybody deceive and bamboozle you. No CBN governor will allow ‘yes or no’ chairmen to open private accounts to receive money; they are just blabbing. The tenure they are fighting for, which they are killing people over, will end in October. That tenure started in 2022.”

Alimi also slammed the state APC over its flagrant disobedience to a subsisting court judgment that declared vacancies in all Local Governments in the state.

Alimi insisted that the Court of Appeal verdict in the case of the Action Peoples Party, APP, which sacked the APC chairmen, remained the only existing judgment as of today.

While speaking on the alleged misappropriation of N3.7 billion under his watch as Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alimi refuted the allegations, saying they were an attempt to distract the people from the ongoing investigation of the past administration.

He said, “If the ALGON Chairman spent ALGON money, how is that my concern? They will hear from my lawyer very soon to explain how money meant for ALGON becomes my problem.

“First and foremost, the allegations against Adeleke sent to the EFCC are true. This is not tit-for-tat. If they believe there is a case against me, they should file a petition before the EFCC instead of making noise in the media.

“The money moved from the Local Government account to security was transferred from the Local Government account to the ALGON account, then to Ibikem Construction and Akeem Ibitoye, who owns the account and is the only signatory to it.”

The commissioner reiterated that the money belonged to the local governments, and the LG authority made use of their funds, affirming that he wasn’t a signatory to any government accounts nor had control over ALGON spending.

Alimi warned that if former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Adebayo Adeleke, and Mr. Jamiu Olawumi failed to retract their statements and apologize publicly within the stipulated time, he would have no choice but to seek legal redress over the matter.

Prior to the February 22 local government election, the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, Osun chapter, directed all its members to stay at home over their safety.

As of the time of filing this report, Osun local government workers are yet to resume work in their various council secretariats.