The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, on Wednesday, said greedy politicians milking the funds of local government won’t be spared.
At the Gombe State Local Government Summit in the North-East state, Olukoyede made this known to a mixed audience of activists, traditional rulers, and LG leaders.
Local council chairmen in the 774 councils in Nigeria should develop the capacity to manage resources and carry out strategic development projects for the benefit of their constituents, he said, with more money coming into local governments after the landmark decision of the Supreme Court that gave the third tier of government autonomy.
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“Even though you may have financial autonomy, you must also remember that you don’t have constitutional immunity. Therefore, the use of your resources will be strictly monitored by anti-corruption organizations as well as the state government because it will be the state government’s responsibility to ensure that the resources used by the local government where development projects are supposed to be carried out are responsibly and judiciously used, used, and put into practice.
“So, I am challenging the local government chairmen. You must add value to yourselves and develop yourselves,” he said.
According to the EFCC chair, it is necessary to establish a local-level system of accountability. The first step is to ensure compliance by having the councils’ leaders follow the laws and regulations that govern public finance at the local level.
He claimed that separation of power must be implemented in the councils to enforce the system of checks and balances. “We discover that most times, the legislative units of the local governments don’t sit, most times, they don’t even work. We’ve seen that in so many areas,” he said.
The chairmen of councils will continue to serve as the only administrators with concomitant risks of due process and accountability, according to Olukoyede. You serve as chairmen of the local government in addition to the administrators.
As royal fathers, community leaders, even traditional rulers, you have a responsibility to keep an eye on the activities of the local government administration.
Source: Channels TV
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