The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, on Wednesday, said greedy politicians drining the funds of local government won’t be spared.
Olukoyede made this public when he spoke to a mixed audience of activists, traditional rulers and LG bosses at the Gombe State Local Government Summit in the North-East state.
As per him, with more monies coming into local governments after the landmark ruling of the Supreme Court that allowed autonomy to the third tier of government, local council chairmen in the 774 councils in Nigeria ought to develop the ability to oversee assets and execute strategic developmental projects for the benefit of their constituents.
“Even though you may have financial autonomy, you must also remember that you don’t have constitutional immunity. And so, the application of your resources will be strictly monitored, not only by anti-corruption agencies but even by the state government because it is going to be to the credit of the state government if it ensures that the resources going to the local government where developmental projects are supposed to take place is responsibly and judiciously appropriated, applied and executed.
“So, I am challenging the local government chairmen. You must add value to yourselves and develop yourselves,” he said.
The EFCC chair said to set up a structure of accountability at the local level; the first phase is getting the leadership of the councils tocomply with laws and regulations guiding public finance at the local level and guarantee adherence.
He said that the system of checks and balances in the councils through separation of power must be enthroned. “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.
Olukoyede said, “Without full expression of the autonomy of the branches of government at the local government level, the chairmen of councils will continue to act as sole administrators with concomitant dangers to due process and accountability. You are not sole administrators but local government chairmen.
“Community leaders, even traditional rulers, it is part of your duties as royal fathers to ensure that you monitor the activities of the local government administration within your domain.
“Civil societies also, we are challenging you to do your work and rise to the occasion. We must all take a greater interest in the resources of the councils that are expended through budget tracking and oversight. Where there is evidence of malfeasance, they also have a responsibility to alert the anti-graft agency for immediate intervention.”
