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PMB claim Govs steals LG funds as NULGE backs FG

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The Federal Government’s claim that state governors were stealing local government funding was supported on Thursday by the National Union of Local Government Employees.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), has claimed that governors and local government officials who “pocket” public monies are to blame for the local government level’s stalled development.

Buhari criticized the governors for what he called bad local governance.

At a discussion with participants in the Senior Executive Course No. 44 (2022) of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, held on Thursday at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja, Buhari made this statement.

Following the course 44 presentation with the title “Strengthening Local Governance in Nigeria: Challenges, Options and Opportunities,” the president made some remarks.

Buhari made his claim just 24 hours after Clement Agba, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, claimed that the governors had neglected a crucial demographic in favor of investing state funds in the capital cities.

Agba charged the governors with paying little attention to the grassroots, noting that 72% of the country’s poor live in rural areas.

A perplexed Buhari described as “terrible” how some state governors receive money on behalf of local government councils in their states and send half of it to the council chairman who steals the remainder, leaving nothing for development projects. He based this claim on a personal experience involving an unnamed governor.

After reading his speech, he stated, “I felt it essential to deviate, and this detour is the product of my personal experience.” According to my personal experience, if the state receives N100 million from the Federation Account, N50 million will be delivered to the chairman, who will then sign that he received N100 million. The governor will keep the remaining money for himself and distribute it as he sees fit.

The local government chairman must then choose how much he must pay in salaries and forget about development. He will put the remaining money in his pocket after paying the large man’s wages.

This is what’s going on. We are in Nigeria. You cannot argue the individual who was doing this was uneducated because it is a bad act. He was an experienced and licensed lawyer, nevertheless he took part in this kind of corruption.

“So, it’s an issue of conscience, whatsoever level we find ourselves,” he continued. As a leader, you sit here knowing how much the nation has given up to educate you and prepare you for leadership. Personal honesty is the most important factor. Might God help us.”

The President also promised that the proposals in the SEC 44 document would be “painstakingly” considered for implementation by his administration.

The President asserted that his administration has made significant efforts to increase trust between the government and the populace, but he also noted that the report would offer guidance on how to provide good governance to the populace at large and ultimately restore their confidence in the government.

It is clear that the administration cannot afford to merely express its support for the report’s recommendations.

I guarantee that the report will be given the serious consideration and haste it requires. He promised that the government would study the report and put the meticulously thought-out recommendations into practice.

The National Institute can always be relied upon to deliver on extremely important and delicate assignments of national importance, he said, praising the report’s quality and the attention and dedication that went into it.

The caliber of the presentations and the assurance with which they were made speak volumes about the caliber of instruction the course participants received. I’d want to congratulate everyone of you for living up to the confidence and faith that were placed in each of you by your respective nominations.

“I am very pleased with the discipline and knowledge you have all openly displayed. You all went through a difficult training program at Kuru, and I have been informed of that. Therefore, you are deserving of your graduation,” the President informed the 89 participants in Senior Executive course 44.

In order to revitalize, reform, and reorganize their numerous platforms and areas of influence, responsibility, and leadership, he challenged them to return to their various establishments, units, positions, beats, departments, directorates, ministries, parastatals, commissions, commands, and agencies.

In response to the demands made by the NIPSS leadership, Buhari pledged to look into some of the issues the organization was having, saying that no government institution could operate without issues.

He also gave them the assurance that, before leaving office in May 2023, his administration would have finished reviewing and passing the NIPSS establishment Act and the conditions of service.

Therefore, the President instructed the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to take all necessary actions to complete it.

The Director-General of NIPSS, Prof. Ayo Omotayo, revealed in his remarks that the course participants traveled on study tours to 14 federated states, six African nations, and six foreign nations.

This allowed them to develop practical options that the government could take into consideration when strengthening local governance, he said. “This enabled them to have both local and international perspectives on local governance, how to overcome challenges in achieving it, identify the available opportunities to strengthen it.

After the discussion, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, the NIPSS’s director of staff, said that governors were “the elephant in the room” and that grassroots governance was essential to reestablishing national security and safety.

“The SGF concisely expressed the reality as it was shown in the report. Because local governance, the community, and the grassroots are the basis of a democratic process and are where the people belong, and because governance is ineffective, people have developed self-help, survival-coping mechanisms, you have no justification for complaining that bandits have overtaken our communities if these institutions are not governed.

Although the government will handle it, he added, “NIPSS should also take up the advocacy dimension because really, from the conversation, you will see that the governors are the elephants in the room and of course, we also recognise that the governors are complaining because of over-centralisation of power in the exclusive functions.”

 

 

Vincent Paul

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