By Ummi Ismaeel,
Minna
Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, has advised the 25 local government chairmen in the state to be committed to their jobs and resist temptations of using their offices for personal aggrandizements.
Bello said that there would be no escape route for any local government chairman or public office holder found wanting in the discharge of duties.
Bello gave the warning after swearing in the new Suleja Local Government Area Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Shuaibu Maje, to replace the former chairman, Ahmed Diko Kazeem, who was removed from office by the councilors over allegations of misappropriation of funds.
The decision to hands off local government funds, Bello explained was to avoid misconceptions regarding his administration’s intents, warning that any council chairman found misappropriating public funds will be dealt with according to the law.
“It is an open secret that some councils cannot pay salaries even when they had been given autonomy, some of them are not making efforts to improve financially but we still try to support them because they were owing workers salaries”, the governor said.
According to him, “We helped them but some have refused to pay their workers’ outstanding salaries and they go about telling lies after they had diverted the funds on the disguise of using it on security. Be warned, any chairman found diverting public funds is on his own”.
While challenging citizens to make their leaders accountable for monies put in their trust, Bello said, “You were elected to serve the people and not for own selfish interests, if you don’t want to be accountable to the people, then don’t seek elective office or take political appointments”.
The governor therefore directed the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to conduct a forensic audit of the accounts books and financial transactions of all the councils affected in the non-payment of salaries with a view to bringing them to book.
Bello who congratulated the newly sworn-in council chairman said, “I want a forensic audit of each local government council by the Auditor-General and any local government chairman found wanting will be suspended”.
Justice Aliyu Maiyaki of the State High Court administered the oath of office and oath of allegiance on the new Chairman, Abdullahi Maje, to replace Diko Kazeem who was removed in November last year for abuse of office.