A civil society organisation, the Ondo Redemption Front, ORF, on Thursday accused the Ondo State Government of lacking transparency and accountability, particularly over its controversial N240 billion bond.
According to the group, there is no public visibility of the bond in terms of its conditions, utilisation, and current status, stressing that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s administration is cloaked in alleged financial secrecy.
During a press briefing in Akure, the state capital, ORF disclosed that it is in possession of documents and evidence indicating that some individuals within the government have been receiving monthly N12 billion kickbacks from the “secret” bond.
According to the chairman of the group, Ayodeji Ologun, who was flanked by the co-chairman, Kayode Mogbojuri, and secretary, Adedotun Ajulo, Aiyedatiwa and his Commissioner for Finance should come out clean over the controversial bond.
Ologun, emphasising that the integrity of the state is at stake, called on the Ondo State House of Assembly to promptly initiate a transparent investigation, warning that continued “silence will only confirm suspicion.”
“The matter of the N240 billion bond issuance and the allegations of N12 billion monthly kickbacks. These are not ordinary whispers in the marketplace.
“The credibility of the issuance of a bond is its visibility. We have it on a very strong note that there have been monthly kickbacks of N12 billion being generated from this bond going to private pockets of one or two persons,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ondo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Idowu Ajanakun, described the group as faceless. Similarly, the Ondo Good Governance Alliance maintained that all financial records of the state are open, audited, and verifiable, stressing that the allegations are baseless.
