Rivers And Probe Of Council Funds

TRACKING >>On May 28, 2019, less than 24 hours to his swearing-in for a second term in office, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike inaugurated a seven-man committee saddled with the responsibility to investigate and audit the financial transactions of the 23 local government councils from May 2018 to May 2019.

The inauguration of the probe committee came at a time when the Federal Government had concluded plan with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to be sending monthly allocations to the local government councils.

However, a lot of interpretations had been given to the process as not a few citizens in the state, especially those in the opposition, linked the probe to 2023 governorship race.

About two weeks before the setting up of the probe committee, the governor, backed by the Rivers State House of Assembly, suspended 12 local government chairmen for some unknown reasons.

The affected chairmen were those of Okrika, Emohua, Abua/Odual, Degema, Khana, Gokana, Ahoada-East, Ikwerre, Eleme, Andoni, Omuma and Ogu/Bolo local government areas.

The suspended local government chairmen were recalled on Sunday, May 19, 2019 via a Government House press statement.

The committee, headed by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Ipalibo Harry-Banigo, has the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr Zaccheus Adango and Commissioner for Finance, Isaac Kamalu, as members.

Other members include Mrs Bunmi Akaakar; Prof Kaniye Ebeku and Mrs Inime Aguma while the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Information, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, is the secretary of the committee.

The committee has already set out to work with quizzing of the council chairmen and all top functionaries of the local government administration in batches

The committee, which sits at the Deputy Governor’s Conference Room in Government House, Port Harcourt, has so far quizzed about 16 council chairmen along with their secretaries, heads of Local Government Administration and heads of Personnel Management.

Also quizzed were treasurers, cashiers as well as the director of Works of the respective local government councils.

Inaugurating the Committee at Government House, Port Harcourt, Wike said the committee was not aimed at removing any council chairman or official, but targeted at improving probity and accountability in the 23 local government councils of the state.

The governor said, “We are not trying to remove any local government chairman, but it cannot be business as usual in the 23 local government areas.

“We want to know how the Local Government Councils spend their Local Government Allocations. I have never interfered in the administration of Local Government funds. I am not one of those governors that interfere with Local Government funds.”

He regretted that despite the monthly allocations to the 23 local government Councils, there is no LGA that had executed projects.

Wike said, “I have found out that there is no Local Government Area where you see a single project. When I was a Local Government Council Chairman, we executed projects.

“For me, I invited the state governor at the time, Dr Peter Odili, to commission projects. No local government chairman has invited me to commission a project”, he said.

The governor urged the committee to live above board, saying that if he gets information that any local government chairman or godfather attempts to compromise the committee, the committee would be dissolved.

He said, “People must sit up and account for funds of the Local Government Councils. Ask for bank statements, ask for money from Joint Account, ask for the salaries and allowances. If they spent any funds the day I visited, they should state it. We cannot continue the way we are going.

“At the end of every month, they come JAC meeting. We must know how the funds are spent. Also, check which Local Government Councils collected loans when they are not backed to do so without authorisation”.

Wike stated that the committee had three weeks to submit its report, adding that the state government counts on the integrity of members of the committee to deliver on the assignment.

To the chairman of the committee and deputy governor, Harry-Banigo, the committee will deliver on schedule in line with its terms of reference.

The deputy governor said the audit is tool aimed at ensuring the proper use of Local Government funds for the development of the respective areas.

She said: “The efficient running of Local Government Councils will add value to the achievement of the vision of the governor. The committee will work in line with the terms of reference of the governor.”

Addressing the 23 local government chairmen before the commencement of the probe, the Committee Chairman, said the purpose of the probe was to reposition the local government areas as the bastion of grassroots development and democratic dividends.

Harry-Banigo said: “The local government is the closest tier of government to the people. His Excellency wants to be sure that monies that get to the local government are used in the overall interest of the people, especially for projects that touched on the lives of the people.”

The committee chairman, who called for maximum cooperation with the committee for optimum result, said the committee would not hesitate to indict any local government council as well as other stakeholders that may fail to give its maximum cooperation.

She stated that all necessary documents in their possession required for this exercise must be provided.

Harry-Banigo said the committee would not tolerate any attempt to interfere with the smooth running of the business of the committee by any form of inducement whatsoever.

The deputy governor stated that any such attempt should be vehemently resisted and all such elements would be extracted from the committee immediately.

But, not all Rivers people are in support of the probe of the finances of the local government administration, as some believe that governor lacks the power to investigate the accounts of the third tier of government.

To a public affairs analyst, Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo, he believes that if the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is barred by the courts from investigating the finances of Rivers State, the governor cannot probe the account of the local government councils.

Ijuye-Dagogo said, “Governor Nyesom Wike contradicted himself when he inaugurated a committee headed by the deputy governor, Dr. Ipalibo Harry-Banigo, on Tuesday to audit and investigate financial transactions of local government councils in Rivers State.

“The gross contradiction emanates from the backdrop that all Rivers State governors, since Dr. Peter Odili secured a federal high court injunction against the EFCC, had hidden behind the ruling that only the Rivers State House of Assembly had the right to investigate the financial activities of the state government.

“The state government here includes all ministries, departments and agencies, including local government councils, which the Constitution says are to be governed by laws made by the Rivers State House of Assembly.

“In 2008, the Rt.Hon. Chibuike Amaechi-led Rivers State government used the subsisting high court judgment to resist the EFCC when the anti graft body descended on Nyesom Wike as the then Chief of Staff in a N300 million scam.

“Again, in September 2010, thousands of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi supporters staged a peaceful protest in Port Harcourt against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s onslaught into the financial affairs of the Rivers State government.

“On that occasion, Governor Amaechi had protested the attempt by EFCC to arrest some commissioners and local government council chairmen in the state.

“He said that there is a subsisting court order against EFCC from arresting any official of the Rivers State government. He urged the agency to first vacate the court orders if it must pry into the state’s coffers.

“Only last October, a Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to pay the sum of N600m as exemplary damages to the state Accountant General, Frederick Dagogo-Abere and a former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government, Lekia Bukpo, for declaring them wanted without justification.

“The two officials were among those accused by the anti-graft agency of withdrawing N117bn in cash from state government coffers.

“From the foregoing, it is intriguing as to where Governor Nyesom Wike derives the powers, even as a lawyer, to inaugurate a committee to audit and investigate the financial transactions of local government councils in Rivers State.

“Here is a man who was arrested and detained over an alleged N300 million scam, a man under whose nose N117 billion was allegedly withdrawn in raw cash from the coffers of the Rivers State Government, a man who had all along avoided being investigated by citing a subsisting court judgment barring anybody/organization from investigating the finances of the Rivers State Government apart from the Rivers State House of Assembly.

“That man suddenly realizes that Local Government Council chairmen have no excuse not to execute projects because according to the governor, he has never meddled with their finances.”