Society Gists

Founder of Afe Babalola University in Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) has claimed that state governors misappropriate funds allocated to them. He accused the governors of misapplying financial allocations to local governments in their domains. Babalola made the accusation yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, while declaring open the eighth edition of the Afe Babalola Agricultural Expo.

He lamented that the ‘inactions’ of the governors were limiting the development at the grassroots as well as depriving the people of the benefits that they should ordinarily access without stress.

The eminent lawyer expressed dissatisfaction with the way governors run the third tier of government. He said the governors have made the local governments the appendages of the state government, thereby rendering them ineffective.

He subsequently called on President Bola Tinubu to send the local government their allocations directly from the Federation Account.

The ABUAD founder explained that this would lead to grassroots development and engender transparency. He said, “I am suggesting that local governments should be empowered.

Each local government should set up farming equipment for farmers to hire. They should also earmark large hectares of land for the farmers to farm.

“When I was a councillor in those days, local government funds used to come directly to them. We all know what has been happening to their money.

“I think the current President (Bola Tinubu) should do all he can to ensure that local government allocations get to them directly and not through the governors because they (governors) steal a lot.

“There is no parent that will send their children to school – some to Master’s and Ph.D levels – only to come back and be asked to use cutlass to farm. The best the government can do now to revive agriculture is to buy modern implements to encourage people to farm. If local government funds get to them, they will be able to buy tractors for the people to rent.”