Ogun Assembly Summons Monarch, Others Over Land Lease Fraud

Ogun State House of Assembly (OGHA) has summoned a traditional ruler in the state, the Olu of Itori, Oba Abdulfatai Akamo, over his involvement in the fraudulent leasing of the Ewekoro local government area’s property and land to various individuals for 99 years by the immediate past chairman of the council, Hon Sikiru Adesina.

The Assembly said the summon on Oba Akamo became necessary due to the ongoing investigation by the Assembly’s Committee on Public Accounts and Anti-corruption, chaired by Hon. Bello Oluwadamilare, having heard different arguments from past chairmen, stakeholders and surveyors of the Council.

LEADERSHIP recalled that the assembly summoned the House of Representatives member currently representing Ifo/Ewekoro Federal Constituency, Hon. Ibrahim Isiaka, who was unavoidably absent at the committee’s resumed hearing on Tuesday afternoon.

The NASS member Isiaka was said to have excused himself from honouring the Assembly’s invitation due to ill health, stressing that he had gone on medical vacation out of the country.

But the monarch, who was also alleged to have leased some of the local government lands at ridiculous fees at various times, was summoned to appear before the assembly at its next hearing, scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, September 20th, 2024.

The assembly is probing allegations of fraud against the immediate past chairman of the local government, Hon. Isiaka Adesina, for leasing government land to some politicians and individuals for 99 years without following due process.

The embattled former council boss named the Olu of Itori, Oba AbdulfataiAkamo, a House of Representatives member, and others were beneficiaries of the lease agreements at various times in his statement.

However, the Assembly’s Committee on Public Accounts and Anti-corruption, chaired by Hon. Oluwadamilare, called on the monarch and others to appear before it, as their names became prominent in the investigation.

The immediate past chairman, who had initially defended himself at the hearing, fingered other past chairmen of setting a precedent of leasing or selling off the council’s properties, an action he felt was normal.

Adesina confidently explained to the committee that those properties leased to Hon. Isiaka were done under three different applications but originated from the same federal lawmaker for ‘public interest’.