KANO State Governor Abba Yusuf has warned local government area (LGA) officials in the state against stealing public funds.
He vowed that any official found culpable would face severe sanctions.
The governor expressed concern that officials were engaging in practices that could lead to significant financial mismanagement at the grassroots level.
His warning came in the wake of his administration’s efforts to grant local governments full access to their funds.
Speaking at a two-day workshop organised for personnel of the 44 LGAs in the state, on Saturday, October 5, Yusuf said his government would continue to implement more stringent measures aimed at combating corruption.
“The government has noticed with dismay the potential for both grand and petty corruption at the grassroots level. This has been realised as a result of this administration’s effort to give the local government councils full access to their funds, even before the apex court’s intervention,” Yusuf said.
Yusuf emphasised that his administration would not hesitate to sanction or dismiss any officials involved in the misappropriation of funds or other financial misconduct.
“We shall also continue to implement more measures aimed at checkmating corruption and will continue to support the State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, the organisers of this programme.”
This, according to him, is to achieve an anti-corruption mandate through enhanced financing and oversight monitoring while maintaining a non-interference policy for optimum performance of the LGAs.
While commending anti-corruption stakeholders, he stressed that the workshop was aimed at sensitising the participants on transparency and accountability.
He further noted that in line with the Supreme Court ruling, his administration had dissolved the 44 local government interim management committees.
He stressed that it had also appointed civil servants to oversee local government affairs until elections could be conducted.
“Our government is founded on the principles of transparency and accountability, as well as the entrenchment of the rule of law in our society. This takes into account the Supreme Court’s verdict relating to local government administration in the country.
“And as a true believer in the rule of law, the Kano State Government, under my leadership, dissolved the 44 local governments interim management committees. We have made the civil servants, who are strategically and statutorily positioned to fill any vacuum in governance, oversee the affairs of the local government councils.
“This is while preparations are in top gear to fill the absence of the public officers, as a result of the court’s judgment, through democratic means,” Yusuf said.
The governor’s position followed the Supreme Court ruling, which mandated all states to conduct democratic elections for local government councils and grant them full financial autonomy.
The July 2024 ruling, which restored financial and administrative independence to the nation’s 774 local government areas (LGAs), marks a departure from the previously pervasive practice of appointing caretaker committees that were mainly the governors’ stooges and tools for squirrelling public funds.
Although The ICIR reports that this practice has been widely criticised for undermining local governance and stalling community development, many Nigerian state governors used the LGAs as tools for political patronage, which negated democratic ideals.
Meanwhile, no fewer than 11 states, including Adamawa, Kwara, Bauchi, Delta, Cross River, Rivers and Anambra have held local government elections after the Supreme Court ruling, allowing citizens to elect who leads them at the level of government closest to them.
Others are Ebonyi, Kebbi, Enugu and Sokoto. The ICIR reports that local government elections were held in these states between July and October 2024.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M