• Warns against extortionate taxes, rates
• Moves to reconstruct Ijebu Ode-Epe road
• Ogun police warn Ilaro poly students against planned protests

To ensure effective administration of the third tier of government, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun has lifted the embargo placed on bank accounts of all the 20 local councils in the state.

The defreezing of the accounts takes effect from Monday, February 17, 2020.

Abiodun stated this at a workshop for transition committee chairmen and members of all the local councils in the state with the theme, “Towards a New Local Government System in Ogun – Doing Things Differently,” held at the Executive Council Chambers, Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

Abiodun, who described local councils as the closest to the people, said for the people to feel the impact of government, those at the helm of affairs at the council level must embark on masses’ oriented projects and be fair in their dealings with them.

He said though they were not elected, the process of their appointment was consensus as community and party leaders were involved in their selection as a corollary of the inclusive approach to governance in the state.

This, he noted, underscores his call that they must perform excellently to justify the confidence reposed in them.

He, however, charged them to be inclusive and refrain from taking arbitrary decisions, but that which reflects the collective will and desires of the people.

In another development, the governor has approved the reconstruction of 14 kilometres Ijebu-Ode-Mojoda-Epe Road with immediate effect.

The state’s Commissioner for Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Ade Akinsanya, disclosed this at the weekend after the executive council meeting of the state held at the governor’s office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

Akinsanya said that the linking road to Lagos would have two and half lanes in each direction, lay-bys and 14 box coverts and bridges and that a time-frame of 12 months had been set for the completion of road.

Meanwhile, as some students are planning to stage a statewide protest in Ogun State in solidarity with the suspended Students Union Government (SUG) President of the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, who was recently arrested for cultism, the state Police Command has sounded a note of warning.

A statement by the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, stated that in view of this, the Ogun State police command wishes to advise parents and guardians to warn their children and wards not to involve themselves in any activity capable of disrupting the peace being enjoyed by the people of Ogun State.

He said that the command would view such act with all seriousness.