State Governors Stealing Local Govt. Allocations - Buhari

 
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday came out bluntly to accuse State governors of being responsible for the stunt in rural developments across the country because, according to him, "they steal allocations to Councils".

The Nigerian leader who expressed worry over the unhealthy treatment of Local Governments Councils by State Executives said, the corruption perpetrated by State Governors through the Local Government, will make it difficult for any meaningful development to take place. 

Sharing what the President said was a personal experience during a parley with participants of the Senior Executive Course 44 (2022) of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Buhari underscored the need for leaders in the country to be selfless, rather than engage in corrupt practices that undermine developments at the local government levels.

"Speaking from personal experience, a Chief Executive of a State, a qualified lawyer, trained, the treatment of Local Governments, what they did. This is my personal experience. If the monies from the Federal government to State governments is 100 million, let's put it at 100 million. 50million will be sent to the chairman with a letter that he will sign that he received 100 million. The Governor will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wanted to and then the Chsaidan of the Local Government will see how much he must pay as salaries. To hell goes to development. Monies for the salaries will be given and the balances he will put in his pocket. This is what is happening. This is Nigeria, it's a terrible thing. You can not say the person who is doing these was not educated, he was a qualified lawyer, he was experienced, yet he participated in this type of corruption. So, it's a matter of conscience, whichever level we find ourselves. As a leader, you sit here with all the sacrifices the country is making by putting you through institutions and getting you ready to lead. The fundamental thing is personal integrity. may God help us", the President lamented.

While congratulating the participants of the Senior Executive Course 44 on the successful completion of their course, President Buhari assured that his administration will continue to support activities of NIPSS.

He challenged the participants to go back to their various establishments to revitalize and reinvigorate leadership at the level.

The strong comments of President Buhari on State Governors is coming barely 24 hours after the Federal Government blamed the rising level of poverty and hunger in the country on Governors.

The Nigerian Minister of State for Budget and Planning, Chief Clement Agba had while addressing State House Correspondents at the end of the routine weekly Federal Executive Council meeting, accused State Governors of preferring to build skyscrapers, flyovers and bridges which served as conduits for corruption and capital flights, at the detriment of social welfare projects and programmes for rural people.