By Dele Moses, Ilorin
The panel of inquiry probing allegation of monthly diversion of N300m from the funds of local governments in Kwara State has said it was still waiting for memoranda from members of the public who may want to testify.
Chairaman of the panel, Retired Justice Mathew Adewara, said that the panel was yet to receive any memorandum from the members of the public despite the public announcement made inviting memoranda.
He said only those who were officially summoned as witnesses such as officials of local government, parastatals and bank have testified before the panel.
Adewara said members of the public can still come forward with any relevant information on the matter or related issues of local government administration and funding.
“You’ll recall that we placed advertisement in print and broadcasting media for interested members of the public who have anything to say on the Local Government finances to send memorandum and come before the panel to adopt same. Up till now, not only have they failed to submit memorandum, they have also failed to appear for oral presentation, if any. It’s therefore assumed that they have nothing to say on the matter.
“For emphasis, we advertised in the Herald Newspapers and on radio stations, calling for memoranda from members of the public, concerned individuals, organisations and other stakeholders with relevant and useful information on the alleged removal of N300million from the monthly allocation accruing to local governments in Kwara State. We requested them to submit ten (10) copies of their memoranda to the Secretariat of the committee at Governor’s Office between Thursday August 13 and Wednesday August 19, 2020 and nobody turned up except those we invited formally,” he stated.
The chairman said those who had testified and adopted their documents before the panel were Directors of Personnel Management from across the 16 local government councils, Executive Secretary of local government staff pension board, representative of state universal basic education board (SUBEB), and bank managers.
He insisted that the panel is not putting anyone on trial but is examining the veracity of the N300m allegedly being diverted from local government funds.
“Our assignment is to bring out only the facts. That’s exactly what we are doing. We have written to relevant stakeholders to supply relevant documents and answers to questions as you know it. So, nobody is on trial,” he said.