Governor of Niger State is engaged in a fierce
battle with mega spending that defy logic in his state.
Here are
the details
Few weeks ago, my friend and brother LDD,
reminded me of this mild drama that occurred sometimes in the 80s...” I still
remember the story vividly going by the
way my late dad laughed heartily when he read the
story in the papers while sitting under the Tangerine tree behind our house in
the ancient city of Ibadan.
Some heavy machinery belonging to a government
agency disappeared in one part of a North East state and was eventually found
neatly parked in another part of the state.
When the General Manager of the agency was
queried, his response was that the machinery got to the new place as a result
of the heavy flood recorded that year! I still remember how, in another NE
state, we read of the case of termites that ate an entire fleet of harrowers
and harvesters in the same 80's.
And now in 2015, the level of impunity has
reached a level that it was recently discovered that an entire aircraft
belonging to a state government suddenly developed wings and landed in a North
African country!
And yes, in 2015, it is a case of how to build
dozens of N6M latrine across local councils in Niger state. Kindly bear with me
as I share.
On the 10th September 2015, His Excellency,
Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, Executive Governor OF Niger State, delivered a
statewide broadcast on the state of affairs in the Power State.
Apart from the policy thrust of his government,
and what he had done so far, he took time to reveal the sordid way and manner
the last administration ran the State financially.
Excerpts are below
7. …For instance, out of the total sum of over
N11 Billion paid to the accounts of Ward Development Projects, the relevant
officials of the Ministry of Local Government could not account for
N2.86Billion while N613Million was spent on "ghost" vehicles and
N675.50 million was said to be lent to Ministry of Finance where the funds
cannot be traced. Similarly, the sum of N498 Million purportedly spent on
security cannot be traced to any security outfit or individual.
8. …Even the N5 Billion that was allegedly
transferred to the Ministry of Local Government could not be accounted for, as
most of the funds never reached the various Local Governments. The amounts that
were actually received by the Local government accounts were more or less
shared among PDP members. Besides, a large chunk of the funds meant for the
10KM Road Project were transferred to Local Government Chairmen Forum (N832.5
Million), Government House (75.00Million) and office of the Secretary to the
State Government (N300.00 M). It is no wonder most of the 10KM road Projects
were abandoned by the contractors.
9. …For example, the contract for Solar
Power Street Lightening was awarded to a contractor at N233.3Million and down payment
of N174.85 Million was made to him. The contract was revoked without the
advance payment being recovered. Instead, the contract was rewarded to another
contractor at the cost of N792Million, which is twice the initial cost.
11. The loan of N2.96Billion taken by the
Ministry of Local Government last year has generated some controversy and
therefore deserves mentioning here. The loan was taken in 2014 at a time the
Ministry had N3Billion in its account and was therefore unnecessary. Worst
still, the purpose for which the loan was taken kept on changing until it was
finally disbursed. Apart from the amount of N994M transferred to the Pilgrims
Welfares Board, the Ministry officials could not account for N 203M while N572M
and N530M were paid into the accounts of Government House and SSG's office
respectively. These amounts were later on paid out in cash to PDP officials and
other individuals. The vehicles for which N30M was purportedly spent are
nowhere to be found.
Numerous Incidents of Questionable Transactions
12. …Selling of quoted shares of the State by the
State Development Company amounting to more than N 500M, which was never
remitted to the account of the state. Also the sum of N1.06Billion was
disbursed in 2014 purportedly for Ramadan Iftar while N897M was spent on the
purchase of Sallah Rams. Contract for digging of pit latrines was awarded at
N6M each.
Meanwhile, no one should ask me, what kind of pit
latrines cost N6M, and with the hunger in the land, what human waste was going
to be disposed in such latrines, remains a big question, and sure it’s worth
asking how much would a modern rest room have cost in the power state for
expensive shit.
The above “lootocracy” is very well child’s play
compared to many states, in some, websites were built for xyz sums, or monies
disappeared with ghost contractors, and in others, they simply turned
governance into family or clan affairs.
We are informed by Department of State Security
“sources” of wads of dollar bills found in a government house, in the land of
uncommon transformation.
Bitter truth is that, half of all the utterances
of the current governor of Niger State is political language, until prosecuted,
found guilty and punished for such despicable acts, nothing will change. And I
dare say, no one would be punished, if the noise is loud enough, many would cry
victimization, and leave him/her/them alone would be the chant! Faith,
ethnicity and political affiliations would be currency, the law in Nigeria,
which has a “big ass”, would equally play its role
With all these in mind, unfortunately some of the
“fresh” governors have also embarked on their own “spree” of despicable acts,
and are already on course to give us a repeat performance of what took place in
Niger state.
In Lagos, we have seen the Hajj scam, in Plateau,
the governor is reportedly buying properties like peanuts, in Imo Rochas cannot
even show a statement of state accounts, after inheriting an empty treasury
from himself…In Ekiti, governance has reduced to Fayose-cracy and APC kicking.
While I remain a cautious optimist on the
Nigerian project; many of us however are not ready to interrogate leadership,
we are still yet to put interventionist mechanism and systems that can stop our
leaders “expensive shit”, do we want to clean the “shit” or we rather have
latrines everywhere—Only time will tell
Prince Charles Dickson is a Freelance
Journalist; 2348033311301, 2348184880370, Alternate Mail: pcdbooks@outlook.com,
Skype ID: princecharlesdickson
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