He made the allegations during an interview on News Central TV, where he spoke about Osun State politics ahead of the upcoming election.
The newsmen said the subject of local government funding, tussles with the Federal Government, and the state’s overall political landscape, would be discussed.
He alleged that Governor Adeleke had approached the president on several occasions to intervene and free up funds allocated to the local government councils in Osun State.
“Governor Adeleke went to beg him (President Tinubu), and he went with his family members on different occasions,” the political commentator alleged.
He added that on one of the occasions, the governor’s personal aide and popular musician David Adeleke (Davido) was with him.
“He went with his elder brother, Adedeji, the man owns Adeleke University, to beg again the President to release the money to the local government,” Shield stated.
He explained that the funds in question are supposed to be the allocation for the local government and that they should not “continue to be in Abuja”.
According to him, the Osun State government has been unduly burdened with extra payments since the local government funds have not been released.
“I think that the Osun State government is being unnecessarily burdened with extra payments because the money belongs to the local government and not the state,” he alleged.
During the interview, Shield linked the tussle between the Osun State Government and the Federal Government to the commencement of the governor’s election.
He alleged that the recent arrest of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) was the harbinger of the kind of political tension being whipped up in the state.
“Our security agencies are being used to intimidate troublemakers or anyone the ruling party perceives as a threat to the change agenda and free Osun State elections.
If this continues it will affect Nigeria’s democracy because people will not trust our institutions and our systems during elections.
In the past, governors facing polls have come out and publicly accused the federal government of being involved in the politicisation of security agencies in their states,” he said.
However, he was not able to back up his allegations with verifiable evidence.
He alleged that Governor Adeleke had in the past “reported to the Inspector General of Police and other agencies concerning the activities of APC leaders in Osun State and their security men”.
But, according to Shield, “the reports had no traction.”
He explained thus:
“Adeleke has gone to beg him; he has gone with his nephew Davido, he has gone with his elder brother, the owner of the Adeleke University. They have tried to beg Tinubu, release these funds; these are for local government.
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