By Julius Alabi, Akure
Facts have emerged on alleged diversion of about N368 billion in allocations meant for the 23 local government areas of Benue State in the last 18 months, with an anti-corruption advocacy group accusing Governor Hyacinth Alia of withholding funds due to the councils.
The Benue Anti-Corruption Crusaders, in a statement signed by its National President, Joshua Agaigbe, alleged that local government chairmen in the state receive only N15 million monthly, despite councils reportedly receiving between N800 million and N1.1 billion in monthly allocations from the Federal Government.
The group alleged that the funds were being diverted through the state’s Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, accusing the governor and some officials of the bureau of frustrating the implementation of financial autonomy for local governments.
It challenged Governor Alia to explain why his administration had allegedly failed to implement local government autonomy in the state in line with the policy direction of the Federal Government under President Bola Tinubu.
According to the group, some local government chairmen had continued to give the impression that the councils enjoyed autonomy because they were allegedly concerned about protecting their positions.
The statement said, “Although the local government chairmen have been deceiving the public that there is local government autonomy in the state just to protect their job, it is clear that what they get monthly is just N15 million each.”
The anti-corruption group further alleged that the council chairmen were left to depend largely on their Internally Generated Revenue to execute projects and provide services in their respective local government areas.
It questioned how a council receiving about N800 million monthly could effectively function if only N15 million was made available to its chairman.
“How can a local government be paid an allocation of N800 million by the Federal Government monthly and all the council chairman gets is just N15 million? Where does the remaining N785 million per local government go to?” the group asked.
The organisation also questioned how the local government chairmen were expected to meet their statutory responsibilities and execute development projects when the bulk of their allocations was allegedly withheld.
It alleged that the situation had compelled council administrations to intensify efforts to raise their internally generated revenue to fund projects and other responsibilities that should ordinarily be supported by statutory allocations.
The group also linked the alleged financial dispute to the suspension of the Chairman of Kwande Local Government Area, Neji, claiming that his suspension was aimed at preventing him from exposing alleged financial irregularities affecting local governments.
It described the state House of Assembly as a “rubber stamp” legislature and alleged that the Kwande council chairman was suspended because he was prepared to speak publicly about the alleged withholding of council funds.
However, the allegations contained in the statement could not be independently verified as of the time of filing this report.
The Benue Anti-Corruption Crusaders said it had conducted investigations into the alleged diversion and promised to make its findings public if the governor failed to account for the funds within one week.
The group claimed that its investigation had uncovered the alleged diversion of more than N368 billion from the accounts of the 23 local government areas through the alleged involvement of senior officials of the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
It therefore called on Governor Alia to immediately commence full implementation of local government financial autonomy and ensure that councils have direct access to funds allocated to them.
The organisation further accused the governor of disobeying presidential directives on local government autonomy on three occasions, urging the Federal Government to ensure compliance with the policy.
It said greater transparency in the disbursement and utilisation of local government funds was necessary to enable the councils to discharge their constitutional responsibilities and deliver meaningful development to rural communities across Benue State.
Ends
