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Political stakeholders in Kogi State has submitted a petition to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) over what they tagged as “Illegal Deduction of Money From the Accounts of the 21 Local Government Areas in the State”.
The petition which was submitted at the EFCC Executive Chairman’s office on Friday 12 July, the same day it was written, was signed by Alhaji Ibrahim Eneihezei, Arct. Onogu Oma-one and Barrister Stephen Oluwadare, accused the Governor Yahaya Bello of directing all the LGA administrators with the Director of Local Governments and Treasurers to sign a mandate of withdrawal of N900million each. They said the DLs and Treasurers have signed the mandates which will see them pulling out a whooping N1.8 billion from the system, few months to an election. This they say has run against the rules binding the withdrawal of funds from LGA accounts as set by the National Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) with the Federal Government new policy of crediting the LGAs accounts directly.
They therefore prayed the EFCC to urgently intervene to stop the descent to financial cannibalism, subversion of financial rules of the local government autonomy. They want the EFCC to invite all the LGA administrators to give account of their financial transactions since they were appointed, and to holistically interrogate the income and expenditure of the LGAs to establish if they conform with financial regulations.
Also, there have been public out cries on the plans of the Governor to sponsor as much as 18 candidates in Kogi East to the APC primary election in the State. The candidates if they eventually pick the nomination forms, will cost the state as much as N4 billion.
The names been peddled include Hon. Jethro Funsho, Hon. Idris Adama, Hon Ojodomo Usman, Comrade Matifo Precious, Barrister Zacchaeus Michael, Hon. Leonard Abubakar, Edime Godwin Amade, Idris Hussein, Solomon Owoniyi, Daddy Yo (Chop I Chop), Rose Aye Ataguba, Princess Iye Grace Adejoh, Momoh Ismaila, Balogun Ade Bright, Victor Abogede, Tony Ogah, Gabriel Olofu Yunusa, and Suleiman Bashir Lawal.e
