Ogun: Get Your Facts Right Before Making Comment-Akinmade Implores Stakeholders

The Chief Consultant on Media to Governor Dapo Abiodun, Mr Kayode Akinmade, has urged social commentators and other critical stakeholders to always get their facts right before making comments on issues concerning the State.

He explained that the trend and pattern of commentary on recent issues at the front burner of discourse in the State were majorly based on vague understanding and incomplete information, resulting in blunders and fallacies, especially on the false allegation made by the impeached Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government, Wale Adedayo, against the Governor over diversion of local government allocations.

Akinmade insisted that Adedayo must have been used by certain people to score cheap and covert political points against Governor Abiodun, saying the allegation made by the former council chairman was baseless, unfounded and mindless.

The media guru, who spoke on Television Continental’s morning programme, ‘The Breakfast Show’, on Friday added that because Adedayo was blatantly lying and being mischievous, he could not provide a single evidence to substantiate his claim against the Governor weeks after making his weighty allegation.

He, however, said that he was highly disappointed by some comments on the matter from certain individuals who were supposed to know better but based their opinions on the issue on mere hearsay and illogical sentiments.

He pointed out that Adedayo goofed when he alleged zero allocation to local governments in the state since he was elected in 2021.

According to him, local government workers, primary school teachers, and traditional rulers get their salaries regularly, while pensioners also receive their pensions as , and when due, which punctured the claim of zero allocation.

He added that Adedayo, when he was chairman received N3 million monthly as security vote along with his salaries.

Akinmade noted that all these were made possible because the state government was augmenting the federal allocation to the local governments since 2019 as a result of the shortfall in revenue occasioned by COVID-19.

“It is very unfortunate that certain people who society holds in high esteem and supposed to be agents of social order and egalitarian society are now becoming purveyors of falsehood and subjective narration out of preconceived bias.

“These individuals, instead of embarking on painstaking investigation to ascertain the facts of the matter, choose to ignore the noble path of confirming the truth and will come to the public space to embarrass themselves when they speak on the position of emptiness and vague understanding rather than the strength of information.

“Let me make it abundantly clear that the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, is a man of due process and thoughtfulness; he will never be involved in any unwholesome activities and will always uphold transparency and accountability at all times.

“In that wise, I want to say that Governor Dapo Abiodun is too clear-headed to be stampeded by commercialized comments and opinions laced with bias and innuendos.

“We, therefore, advise those in the habit of making hasty conclusions on issues concerning our State without thorough investigation to always get their facts right before commenting,” Akinmade stressed.