Connect with us

National

EFCC warns LG council chairmen on financial misuse

Published

on

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has warned council chairmen in Nigeria, including Gombe State, not to see financial autonomy as an opportunity to embezzle funds.

The EFCC chairman, Mr Ola Olukoyede, gave this warning at the Gombe State Local Government Summit on Wednesday. He urged council chairmen and executives to resist the temptation of fraud.

He emphasised that council chairmen and executives at the local government level do not have immunity. Any breach of financial law will be prosecuted without delay.

With local government autonomy granted by the Supreme Court, Olukoyede said the commission would deploy more personnel to Gombe State to monitor fund management.

“Only the Governor and Deputy Governor have constitutional immunity. Local council chairmen, you do not have immunity,” he stated.

He added that the EFCC would not wait for officials to finish their tenure before ensuring accountability and transparency in financial matters.

Olukoyede reminded council chairmen that financial autonomy does not come with constitutional immunity. Therefore, their use of public resources would be strictly monitored.

He described the Supreme Court’s decision on local government autonomy and direct allocation of funds as a welcomed development that should improve council funding.

However, he expressed concerns that such funds might not be used properly, given councils’ history of financial mismanagement and lack of accountability.

According to him, council resources have often been misused, turning councils into ATMs for corrupt officials who divert public funds for personal gain.

The EFCC chairman noted that councils’ financial struggles and inability to meet community obligations raised concerns about their fiscal viability and effectiveness.

ALSO READ:  Police nab woman who stole children in 4 states

Many council chairmen have blamed inefficiency on state governors’ influence and the hijacking of local government resources, he said.

With financial autonomy, such excuses would no longer be valid, and chairmen would be held responsible for mismanagement in their councils.

He advised council chairmen to embrace accountability and financial integrity, using autonomy to implement life-changing projects in their communities.

He also urged them to improve their capacity to manage resources effectively, ensuring transparency and compliance with financial laws.

“Acquire more knowledge and build your capacity on relevant laws guiding financial management. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse,” he warned.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the summit’s theme was ‘Local Government Autonomy, Fiscal Responsibility and Sustainable Development.’ (NAN)

National

IMF urges Nigeria to focus on most vulnerable while stabilising economy

Published

on

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged the Nigerian government to accompany its economic stabilisation policies with targeted social welfare transfers to support the most vulnerable populations.

IMF Director of Communications, Julie Kozack, made this known during a routine press conference at the IMF headquarters in Washington, DC, on Thursday.

Kozack acknowledged the challenges many Nigerians faced and stressed the importance of prioritising support for vulnerable households.

“The authorities’ policies to stabilise the economy and promote growth are welcomed.

“However, they must be accompanied by targeted social transfers to support the most vulnerable populations. We recognise the extremely difficult situation that many Nigerians face,” she said.

She said that completing the rollout of cash transfers to vulnerable households and improving domestic revenue mobilisation should be key priorities for Nigeria.

Kozack also announced that IMF staff would visit Nigeria next week to prepare for the 2025 Article IV Consultation.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF conducts annual bilateral discussions with member countries.

As part of this process, a staff team visits the country, gathers economic and financial data, and engages with officials on economic policies and developments.(NAN)

ALSO READ:  Chinese coy plotting to strip Nigeria of assets – Presidency
Continue Reading

National

Tinubu Distorting Democracy, Weaponising Judiciary, Others – Prof Udenta

Published

on

The founding National Secretary of the Alliance for Democracy, Prof Udenta Udenta, on Thursday, accused the Bola Tinubu Presidency of dismantling democratic values and weaponing the judiciary, and the 1999 Constitution (as amended) against Nigerians.

Prof Udenta, a distinguished fellow of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, said the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State was a distortion of democratic institutions by the Tinubu government.

“The system that should protect democratic governance, you are weaponising them; the judiciary, the apparatus of the state, you are distorting, diluting and transmogrifying them in a way and manner that is shutting down democratic conversations.

“That is what you find as the legacy of the Bola Tinubu president and his political agents,” Prof Udenta said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme.

The scholar said dismantling democratic principles isn’t by shooting guns but by misusing democratic instruments like the constitution and the judiciary.

“When you abandon the foundational norms of democracy and then you begin to use instruments you acquired in power to dismantle the guardrails that govern the democratic system, then democracy dies.

“It is not by firing a shot that democracy dies or crumbles, it is leveraging the guardrails like the constitution, like what was done in Rivers State, to abort democratic rules,” he said.
The scholar also accused Rivers State Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd) of dismantling the levers of democracy with his suspension of all political appointees in the oil-rich state.

“You find the sole administrator strutting around Port Harcourt, dismantling democratic infrastructure,” he said.

ALSO READ:  China’s cross-border capital flow to further stabilise in 2024-Central Bank

Prof Udenta described what is practised in Rivers State as a “hybrid regime which is a part of competitive authoritarianism” being deployed to “manacle the spirit of a nation and abort democratic institutions at all levels” including labour unions, media houses, political parties, and civil societies.

Prof Udenta regretted that the quality of the lives of Nigerians in the last two years has so depreciated. He lamented that there is widespread hunger and poverty in the land with escalating food inflation usurping the income of average Nigerians.

“There is poverty in the land, there is hunger everywhere, inflation is soaring, criminality and terrorism and all manners of insecurity pervade the nation, and the government is bemused like this current one,” he said.

Continue Reading

National

Bill To Create Prime Minister Office Passes Second Reading At Reps

Published

on

A bill for an Act to alter the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to provide for the office of the Prime Minister as head of government and the office of President as head of state and to provide for a framework for the mode of election to the said offices, has passed second reading in the House of Representatives.

It is among 32 Constitution amendment bills that scaled second reading in the House of Representatives on Thursday.

Also among the bills is a bill for an Act to alter the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to provide for specific seats for women in the national assembly and state houses of assembly.

Another is a bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to reduce the lengthy period for determination of pre-election petition matters and provide for the establishment of pre-election tribunals for pre-election matters and regulate the process of suspending a member of the national assembly from legislative duties.

A bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to review the requirements that qualifies persons to be elected as president and vice-president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, governors and deputy governor, passed second reading as well.

A bill for an act to alter the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to review the status of the Federal Capital Territory as regards the election of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and bills for the creation of Wan State and Gobir State also passed second reading.

ALSO READ:  Police nab woman who stole children in 4 states

This brings the total number of Constitution Amendment Bills passed so far through second reading to 113.

Continue Reading