Politics
How Some Governors Pocket LG Funds – Buhari
Buhari has narrated how some governors pocket funds meant for LGs.
Eko Hot Blog reports that President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Abuja flayed the tendency of some governors to encourage corruption in the local government system, thereby inhibiting development at the grassroots.
EDITOR’S PICKS
According to a statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, the president spoke at a parley with members of the Senior Executive Course (SEC) No. 44 (2022) of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru.
He narrated his personal experience on stemming the tide of corruption in the local government system after the presentation of the report of NIPSS SEC 44.
After listening to comments on the Course 44 presentation, themed ‘‘Strengthening Local Governance in Nigeria: Challenges, Options and Opportunities”, by some members of the Federal Executive Council, who aired their personal views on enhancing the autonomy of local governments, Buhari narrated his own experience on the treatment of local governments by some state governments.
‘‘I found it necessary to digress after reading my speech and this digression is as a result of my personal experience,” he said.
“What they did, this is my personal experience, if the money from the Federation Account to the State is about N100 million, N50 million will be sent to the Chairman but he will sign that he received N100 million. The Governor will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wants to share it with.
“And then the Chairman of the local government must see how much he must pay in salaries and to hell with development. When he pays the salaries of the bigman, the balance he will put in his pocket.
“This is what’s happening. This is Nigeria. It’s a terrible thing; you cannot say the person who was doing this is not educated.”
The president, therefore, urged public office holders to be guided by their conscience and personal integrity wherever they find themselves.
He pledged that the recommendations contained in the presentation of SEC 44 will be painstakingly studied by the government with the view to implementing its recommendations.
Declaring that his administration has done so much in building trust between the government and the people, Buhari noted that the report would largely assist in the provision of good governance to the people at the grassroots levels and by extension win back their trust in government.
‘‘It is obvious that government cannot afford to pay lip-service to the recommendations contained in this report,” he said.
FURTHER READING
“I assure you that the Report will be treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves. Government will study the report with the view to implementing the carefully detailed recommendations.”
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