Groups warn those threatening Ondo female Finance commissioner

…say corrupt politicians behind campaigns of calumny
Two separate groups from the North Senatorial District of Ondo State have spat at what they describe as orchestrated campaigns of calumny by some corrupt politicians, against the Ondo State Commissioner for Finance, Mrs Omowumi Isaac.
The two groups in separate statements, scoffed at those maligning the commissioner through insinuations that she bore undue influence on Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
While threatening that any such further utterances in the media would attract widespread protest from people in the Ondo North District, one of the groups, Owo Kingdom Alliance for Progress (OKAP), stated, “Enough is enough”.
In a statement issued on Monday and signed by its chairman, Hon. Samuel Orelope, and secretary, Chief Adelola Ogundipe, the OKAP, rising from an emergency meeting, traced the political hostilities being faced by the Owo-born female commissioner to the beginning of the Aiyedatiwa administration, “when these people kicked against the appointment of Mrs Isaac as Finance Commissioner because, according to them, ‘she is too strict'”.
The meeting of the OKAP, which held in the home of a prominent former lawmaker from Owo, who was part of the recently dissolved Ondo State cabinet, averred that a phony group from the Ilaje area being used by some dubious politicians only wanted Isaac removed because of her ingenuity in safeguarding the state’s treasury against plundering.
“Here is a woman they have tried in vain to influence through bribes and other forms of gratification, and what is next is to start cooking up lies against her, that she is having undue grip or influence on the governor.
“It is sad that rather than appreciate Isaac for bringing her candour and wealth of experience to bear on Ondo State, some people are lurking somewhere, trying to pull her down through dirty lies.
“We in this group, are therefore determined to lead a mass protest to Akure, the state’s capital, and indeed before traditional rulers in Ilaje area, to issue out curses against those hiding under fingers to undermine the hard-earned reputation of Omowumi Isaac,” the OKAP quipped.
In the same vein, another group representing diverse associations in the district, have also sneered at those suggesting through reckless articles that Isaac had pocketed the governor.
The group, Integrity Forum of Progressives (IFP), in its statement, condemned as salacious, libelous and simply mad, the statement by the Ilaje group that Governor Aiyedatiwa was being controlled by the Finance Commissioner.
In own reaction, the Akoko-based IFP noted that capricious politicians who were in the process of stealing the State blind, and who were stopped in their tracks by the Finance Commissioner, were architects of “the loose talks”.
The group thus cites excerpts from an article by one Comrade Olabode Adewale, a resident of Akure, as summary of the ordeal of Omowumi Isaac.
It reads, “During the twilight days of Aketi ( the late Rotimi Akeredolu) as governor, it was in the news how some very few but powerful cabinet members turned the state’s commonwealth to personal entitlements.
Ondo State almost heamorrhaged to death while the ministry of finance then looked on complicitly or helplessly!
“Luckily for Ondo State, and in the wisdom of the new governor and his love for the state, Aiyedatiwa looked for and brought forth Mrs Omowunmi Isaac who is the former Director General of Ondo State Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) under Aketi to help sanitise and put the ministry of finance back in shape.
“Mrs Omowunmi Isaac is a professional accountant and finance expert with local and international training and work experience.
“She is a British trained chartered accountant who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and Finance from Middlesex University London and an MSc in Professional Accountancy from University of London.
“With all the above education, training and experience, Mrs Omowunmi Isaac has literally been working to bring water out of the financial rock of Ondo State.
“Since her assumption of office, financial loop or leak holes have been effectively plugged.
Information that is verifiable has it that all statutory payments such as monthly salaries and MDA’s Running Grants (RG) are always approved, authorised and paid as and when due. It is noteworthy to know that the January, 2025 salaries and RG have been paid.
“All other important projects are also being funded without having to borrow a dime from anywhere by the state government.
“However, because of the Honourable Commissioner’s reluctance to allow the financial resources of the state to be pillaged, the woman is daily being harassed, threatened and assaulted.
It is, therefore, apt to conclude that corruption is unashamedly fighting back in Ondo State.
“Those who are used to the old, untidy and corrupt system of having their ways are now meeting with brickwalls and they are not hiding their frustration anymore.”