Following the arrest of 10 local government chairmen in Benue State over misappropriation of over N900 million, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is left with no alternative…

By TAJUDEEN SULEIMAN 

 

It took just a routine questioning of 10 local government chairmen in Benue State for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to realise the fraud in the management of local government funds in the state. The local government chairmen were arrested and taken into the EFCC custody following their suspension by the Benue State House of Assembly for allegedly misappropriating over N900 million of their excess crude funds allocation.

They are Joseph Akaaza of Makurdi local government; Ameh Linus, Ohimini; Odeh Ageh, Obi; Clement Agada, Ogbabibi; Lordue Orya, Oshongo, and Jonathan Akputu, kwande. Others are Abaji Samuel, Gwer West; Iwar Simeon, Gwer East; David Separ, Ukum, and Innocent Onu, Otukpo.

The state government had last October released the sum of N1.9 billion to the 23 local governments in the state as their share of the excess crude savings. The state assembly resolved to probe how the money was spent following allegations of fraudulent diversion of the funds. Ten local government chairmen who could not account properly for the funds were subsequently suspended in March and later arrested by the EFCC. 

They were released on bail after they signed an undertaking to refund the monies and produce relevant documents to the anti-graft agency.

However, there is a twist to the story. Top sources in the EFCC say the agency is now investigating disbursements to the 23 local governments since 2007 when Gabriel Suswam became governor. The EFCC is acting on the interim report on the probe of local governments by the state assembly. The report is one of the documents now in possession of the EFCC.

The sources had earlier disclosed that during the interrogation of the 10 local government chairmen, the investigators discovered that figures reflected as allocations to the local governments by the state were significantly different from the figures contained in the documents obtained from the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission, RMFAC. “This is why the commission wants to look at all the allocations made to the local governments in the state since 2007. For now we have a strong suspicion that many things are wrong,” a source says. 

The affected local government chairmen were expected to appear at the EFCC office in Abuja last Thursday with all relevant details of allocations to them. “We believe this is just the beginning of the probe because some of the local government chairmen have vowed not to go down alone. The matter may be messier than we thought,” the source adds.  

Since 2007 members of the opposition parties in the state, especially the All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, and elements within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have openly accused Governor Suswam administration of mismanagement of local government funds. The will not stop there. To them, the administration is spending money on projects outside the budget.

And the ANPP is stridently calling for a probe of the administration. The party in February wrote another petition to the state assembly insisting on the probe. The petition, addressed to the speaker of the state assembly, alleges that local government funds from the federation accounts, like VAT and Excess Crude Funds, are hijacked through a law passed by the state assembly, which created a joint service local government/state account.

The new law, which replaced the State Joint Local Government Account, provides that “Monthly Value Added Tax (VAT) or any other intervening revenue allocation to local government councils from the Federation Account to be applied as counterpart funds for Joint Rural Infrastructure and Agricultural Development projects by the state government.” The new law took effect from October 16, 2008.

The petition, signed by Clement Uhondo, general secretary of the party and a former legislator, reveals that out of a total of N22.5 billion that accrued to the 23 local governments from the federation accounts between 2007 and 2009, the local governments got only N1.7 billion. It was disbursed last October.

Part of the petition states: “Presently, local governments councils in the state are strangulated as their statutory allocations, VAT and Excess Crude Proceeds from the federation account are regularly diverted in contravention of the constitution and the law validly made by the National Assembly in respect to the distribution of allocations to local government councils in the watchful eyes of the state house of assembly.”

The petition, which was written after the state assembly suspended the 10 local government chairmen, also wants the legislators to extend the probe to the state government. “Let us know what has happened with the balance of N20,593,047,494, 10 excess crude savings belonging to the local government councils and how it is spent as its appropriation has never been reflected in 2008, 2009 appropriation laws and the recently passed 2010 appropriation bill.”

Terseer Tsumba, speaker, acknowledging the petition, described the allegations as “grave and serious.” But two months after, the state legislature has remained silent on the issues raised in the petition.

The speaker could not comment on the issue, as he could not be reached on his mobile phone. But Samuel Zaki, the speaker’s adviser on media, told the magazine last Wednesday that his boss was out of the state on official assignment. He said the speaker had investigated the allegations and a formal response would be made on May 26. 

Sam Ode, minister of state for the Niger Delta ministry, was the special adviser to the governor of Benue State on local government affairs, and he was in charge of the Local Government Affairs Bureau from 2007 till last month when he was named minister. There are fears in government circle that if the EFCC digs deeper into local government finances, the minister may be interrogated.

Femi Babafemi, EFCC spokesperson, would not be drawn too deep into the alleged "messy affairs". “All I can tell you for now is that we are investigating 10 local government chairmen. I will not say anything more than that,” Babafemi said last week.