Posted by By Isaac Olamikan on
Crack operatives of the Justice Mustapha Akanbi led Independent Corrupt practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Nuhu Ribadu led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may be on their way to Bayelsa State.
Crack operatives of the Justice Mustapha Akanbi led Independent Corrupt practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Nuhu Ribadu led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may be on their way to Bayelsa State.
This much we gathered from very reliable sources close to the 'Big 8' local government chairmen in the State. The anti-corruption bodies, we were informed, are coming to the State on the strength of recent allegations bothering on large scale corruption made against the local government bosses by some influential indigenes of the oil rich state.
Telegraph gathered that of particular concern to the ICPC and EFCC officials is the tip they got that what is on the ground in the different local governments areas of the State in terms of projects (ongoing and executed) is not commensurate with the large sums of money they have been getting so far in form of monthly allocations.
What may have further given away the corrupt council bosses, Telegraph learnt, was the aftermath of last month's Joint Allocation Committee (JAC) meeting where for the first time a member of the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) from Yobe State, Alhaji Isa Gidam was drafted to Bayelsa State to monitor the monthly allocation process.
To the consternation of the RMFAC official the allocation sharing process by the council bosses was filled with lots of irregularities. Such criteria for the allocation of funds viz Derivation Fund, VAT, Ecological Funds etc were not properly handled.
Alhaji Isa Gidam got a further shocker when he enquired about certain indices used to share the allocation since last year, when the council bosses came in and he got a blank response, an indication that the looting of finds have been on for at least a year.
Having got hints of the ICPC, and EFCC's moves the embattled council bosses are said to have started running helter-skelter in a bid to possibly falsify their record books.
Contacted on phone after several attempts, chairman of the State chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Hon. Steven Diver, who is also the Executive Chairman of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area (SILGA), denied knowledge of any complains of corruption against his group.
"We (the council bosses) are all hardworking and resourceful. Your allegations of corruption against us are spurious and we are ready to fight it to the end.
"We are not scared of ICPC and EFCC as we've no skeleton in our cupboards. Let them come; we're ready for them", he boasted.