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By Akanji Alowolodu, Bauchi
State Co-ordinator of a Kano based Non – Governmental Association (NGO), “Save Kano Group”, Alhaji Shu’ayb Darki has said that the NGO has garnered a lot of convincing data/evidences enough to invite the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to Kano in order to carry out thorough investigations regarding how monies allocated to the 44 Local Governments in the state were spent under the watch of Hon. Murtala Sule Garo for seven years at a stretch.
According to the NGO in a statement it released on Sunday, “It’s a common knowledge in Kano State that under the Umar Ganduje-led administration, no Local Government in Kano has ever collected the money allocated to it from the federation account on a monthly basis and not even the devil can tell you what the money is being used for”.
According to the Coordinator, “Hence, we will invite EFCC to come to Kano and do what they are known for. EFCC is the only hope of the people of Kano state and we are all living witnesses that they will come to the aid of the people of Kano State by investigating the activities and expenditures of the Kano State Ministry for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs”.
It alleged that, “No Local Government in Kano State is given 15 percent of its monthly federal allocation popularly known as grant, despite the fact that Local Government being one of the three tiers of government is said to be the closest tier to the electorates and as such it’s supposed to be a source of joy to the taxpayers in those local areas but alas the reverse is the case in Kano State”.
The NGO claimed that, “There is nothing to show for these billions of Naira collected and frittered by the State’s Ministry for Local Governments under the former Commissioner for Local Governments, Murtala Sule Garo on the directives of his coach Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje”.
It further alleged that There is no single Local Government in Kano where you find a capital project worth N100 million in spite of the much-talked-about Billions of Naira received by the Ministry on behalf of the 44 Local Government Councils of Kano State.
The NGO stated that Financial records available at the Local Government have shown that no single Local Government gets less than N150 million monthly.
It explained that Murtala Sule has been the Commissioner in charge of the Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs until, “we heard on the grapevine that he has resigned his position yesterday to run for, as the rumour have, State House of Assembly to represent his Kabo State’s constituency in the forthcoming elections” .
“We are waiting for the out gone Commissioner who supervised how every single kobo was spent in the ministry for these seven years to publicly declare his intention to vie for any elective position and then we will show him that the pen is mightier than the sword”, the NGO threatened.
It further threatened that, “We will make sure he is brought before the incorruptible anti-graft agencies to give a blow by blow account of all the monies that were expended by the ministry under his supervision” .
According to it, “We will not continue to fold arms and be watching some ill-oriented and uneducated riding the people of Kano for fools. It’s high time we put a kibosh to all those political nonsense.”
