August 31, (THEWILL) – A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State, Moses Idika, on Thursday, described the state of local government administration in the state as hopeless.
This was as a right group in the State, Justice, Human Rights Protection and Defense Organization (JHRPD), called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC) to look into the finances of the 13 Local Government Chairmen in the State to ensure prudence and accountability of the allocations released to them by the Federal Government.
Idika also described the reign of the Chairmen in the 13 Local Government Areas in the State as illegal, adding that every money spent by the Chairmen must be accounted for in due time.
Idika, while accessing the one year in office of the 13 Council Chairmen in the State, opined that the local government system in the state thrives on the illegality of the highest level.
“In the first place, a court has ruled that the current leadership of the 13 LGAs in Ebonyi State are not validly elected. The continued stay in office of the 13 Council Chairmen is an illegality and every money spent must be accounted for at due time.
“The idea of a joint account is criminal and that’s the avenue through which the allocation of the LGAs is frittered away. In all the LGAs in Ebonyi State, there are no single social services going on; no water projects, no sanitation, no educational programmes, just nothing going on.
“Aside from the welfare of the Chairmen and the token on tokunbo vehicles given to Councilors in some LGAs, you can’t really say that there is a local government system in place in Ebonyi State today.
“Whereas the LGA is a 3rd tier of government with a clear delineation of responsibilities, none of those responsibilities is carried out by LGA administrations in Ebonyi State. The situation is unfortunate, sad and not sustainable,” he stated.
In its own statement on the local government system in the state, JHRPD urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to look into the finances of the 13 Local Government Chairmen in the State to ensure prudence and accountability of the allocations so far released to them by the Federal Government.
The Group, in a statement made available to journalists in Abakaliki, the State capital, alleged that after one year in office, there was no justification for government presence in the rural areas in the state that are in need of social amenities and development.
Director of the organization, Silas Akubuiro, maintained that the inability of the anti-graft agencies in the country to live up to their responsibilities has made political officeholders embezzle government funds, run political offices as a personal business without recourse to the responsibilities and duties that the office comes with.
He noted that accountability and prudence should be the watchword of all political officeholders and lamented that in Ebonyi State, the Council Chairmen have been embezzling local government funds with impunity in connivance with the state government through the Joint Account Committee (JAC).
“It is unfortunate that in Ebonyi State, since the inception of the last administration, the local government system has been a conduit pipe in which the council Chairmen and the government embezzle local government funds with the illegal joint account policy.
“We have 13 Local Governments in the State that are supposed to take the necessary social amenities to the rural areas but regrettably, none of such is happening.
“Because of lack of water, Ebonyi people in the rural areas are dying as a result of cholera outbreaks, women and children die in droves in the rural areas because the health facilities are not working, different communities have been in darkness without electricity for over 40 years, rural farmers cannot bring their farm produce to the town because there are no access roads yet we have the third tier of government, the local government Chairmen.
“It is disheartening that the moment allocation is received from the Federal Government, after payment of salaries, no single project will be executed with the allocation received. While the Chairmen live in affluence, the rural dwellers live in abject poverty.
“Until the anti-graft agencies begin to do their work, the people in the rural areas will continue to be at the receiving end.
“Go to places like Ohaukwu, Ishielu, Afikpo South, Afikpo North, Izzi, Ezza North and many others, the state of the primary school children is so pitiable. School children have to swim through the river because a Council Chairman refused to construct a culvert across the small river,” he stated.
Sunday Ogbu is a professional journalist with eight - twelve years experience that had worked with various print and online media. Sunday specializes in news reporting with the aim of educating his readers on current social, political and economic occurences within his area of coverage. Sunday is a strong force to work with in the media industry and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Sunday is inspired daily by his wife and their four children. In his free time, Sunday likes sight-seeing, reading and discussing issues of societal interest.
