A foremost civic group in Ondo State, the Ondo Redemption Front (ORF), has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), calling for a comprehensive investigation into the management of both Local Government allocations and State funds in the state.
In the two separate petitions signed by A.O. Ajulo, Esq., a legal practitioner and Secretary of the group, the petitions alleged large-scale mismanagement, diversion, and misappropriation of funds meant for grassroots and state-level development.
In the first petition, addressed jointly to the EFCC and ICPC, the group accused the Ondo State Commissioner for Finance, the Accountant-General, and the 18 Local Government Chairmen of engaging in acts contrary to the provisions of the Constitution and the Supreme Court judgment delivered in July 2024, which affirmed that Local Government allocations from the Federation Account must be paid directly to their respective accounts.
The petition cited reports indicating that some Local Governments in the State, such as Owo Local Government, received as little as ₦5 million monthly, despite allocations running into hundreds of millions from the Federation Account.
Citing the August 2025 FAAC report, the petition detailed allocations such as ₦742.6 million to Akure South, ₦681.5 million to Ilaje, ₦607.6 million to Akoko South East, ₦564.6 million to Akoko North East, and ₦515.6 million to Ifedore, among others, insisting that there is a wide gap between official disbursements and what local councils reportedly receive.
“The Ondo State Government, through its Ministry of Finance and Office of the Accountant-General, has continued to act in violation of the Supreme Court’s directive by intercepting and diverting Local Government funds.” The petition reads in part.
The group urged the anti-graft agencies to audit the State Joint Local Government Account (SJLA), review inflows and outflows over the last two years, and compare available records with projects executed at the grassroots level.
In the second petition, addressed to the EFCC, the Ondo Redemption Front demanded an inquiry into how the Ondo State Government has expended both its federal allocations and internally generated revenue (IGR) in the last ten months.
According to the petition, data from credible fiscal monitoring platforms, including BudgIT and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, show that Ondo State received over ₦127 billion between January and August 2025, ₦109.6 billion between January and July and ₦17.79 billion for August alone.
The group, however, lamented that despite these significant inflows, there has been no transparent record showing how the funds were applied, nor has the government provided a detailed account of its IGR performance and expenditure.
“The citizens of Ondo State are entitled to know how over ₦127 billion of public funds, excluding IGR, have been managed or expended within less than a year, the group wrote, calling for a forensic audit of all inflows and expenditures by the Ministry of Finance and Office of the Accountant-General.
The ORF described both petitions as being in the public interest, emphasising that transparency and accountability are the bedrock of good governance and fiscal responsibility.
