The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, on Wednesday, tasked state governments, traditional rulers, and civil society organisations with the need to check the spending of local government (LG) administrations within their domains.
According to him, something drastic must be done to discourage corruption at the council levels because the structure of accountability at the councils as presently constituted does not inspire confidence.
Olukoyede made these known when he addressed a mixed audience of activists, traditional rulers and LG bosses at the Gombe State Local Government Summit in the North-East state.
He bemoaned the trend where local councils have become automatic teller machines for greedy public officers who feed on the ignorance or lethargy of the rural population to mine public wealth for private gain.
Olukoyede also faulted the trend where local government chairmen reside in state capitals and only visit their councils once a month to share the largesse called federal allocation.
He said councils must not just be caricatures existing in names but be proactive to deliver good governance to the people at the grassroots.
He identified prevalent corruption practices such as the stealing of public resources through contract and procurement fraud, outright embezzlement of resources through brazen sharing of public funds and several other shenanigans among local government officials, saying that the EFCC won’t spare any culprit.
The chairman of the anti-graft agency said, “The effects of corruption in our local governments are all too glaring for us to see: roads in terrible states of dilapidation because the resources meant for their construction have been cornered by a few greedy individuals, ill-equipped hospitals that cannot rise to the challenge of modern healthcare delivery, etc.
“It seems that the councils exist for the payment of salaries of council members of staff and primary school teachers. Once that is done, no one can account for the remainder of where the resources go, but it is common knowledge that most council chairmen do not live within their council areas; they saunter into their council secretariat once every month to share the allocation from the federal account, and once they are done, they return to their palatial abandon mostly in their state capitals.
“The resources that accrue to them over the years have not been properly managed; councils have become automatic teller machines (ATMs) for avaricious public officers who feed on the ignorance or lethargy of the rural population to mine their public wealth for private gain.
“This disposition is unlikely to change except there is a conscious decision, a deliberate decision to embrace a new ethos of accountability and financial integrity.”
According to him, with more monies coming into local governments after the landmark ruling of the Supreme Court that granted autonomy to the third tier of government, local council chairmen in the 774 councils in Nigeria should develop the capacity to manage resources and implement 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 put in place a structure of accountability at the local level; the starting point is getting the leadership of the councils to be in tune with laws and regulations governing public finance at the local level and ensure compliance.
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.”
