The Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa has strongly refuted the PDP Governorship Candidate, Agboola Ajayi’s allegations regarding the misuse of the state security votes funds for the Edo election. He argued that as someone not personally contesting in the Edo election, there would be no basis for such an expenditure.
He emphasized the structured nature of government spending through established budgetary processes. He pointed out the publicly available budget documentation that details all appropriations, including security votes and both capital and recurrent expenditures, suggesting that any unauthorized spending outside these allocations would be impossible within the government’s financial framework.
He said in a live coverage with Channels TV from 2:04, ‘That is not true. There is a budget provision for everything you spend in government. How can you go spend outside the budget? If he wants to know, let him check the budget – the budget that is being published – and you will see the appropriation for security vote and for other expenditure, both capital and recurrent. They are there for all to see. So, what he’s saying is not true; that is a lie. How can you say I withdrew N1.2 billion for Edo election?
Am I the one contesting for an election? You can’t use security vote for election, and he knows it himself. But I don’t know why he’s talking this way; I’m so surprised that he can’t say the truth to the public. The records are there for people to check. The other day, they sponsored an attack that I was having a rancour with some people in London. Those are some of the things they do to demarket me.”