By Miriam Humbe
Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Oluoyede has charged local government Chairmen across the country to take the issue of accountability seriously as they do not have immunity from investigation and prosecution for fraud.
This was disclosed in a statement signed on Wednesday by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale.
Olukoyede was speaking in Gombe, Gombe State on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at the Gombe State Local Government Summit.
He pointedly told the local council Chairmen to be prudent in the management of huge resources at their disposal stressing that: “Local government chairmen do not have immunity and we are not going to wait until you finish your tenure to come after you”.
The EFCC’s boss decried the stagnation, poverty and deprivation rampant in rural areas across the country in spite of enormous resources that have been deployed to those places over the years.
He said: “The impact of these resources are not felt by the people living in these areas. Councils instead of becoming catalysts of growth, have become caricatures existing only in name”.
To ensure prudent management of resources and accountable stewardship, he recommended to the Chairmen the need to establish a compliance unit to assist them in monitoring the use of resources and the delivery of projects.
He told them that the Commission had established a Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, (FRAC), Department, and that officers of the Department will be visiting local government councils in Gombe state to monitor the use of the expected enhanced receipts from the Federation account.
Olukoyede said: “EFCC will be paying you visits occasionally to monitor how you are using the funds.
“We will come in the evening. Sometimes you may even be seeing us in your dreams”.
The EFCC boss commended the Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Muhammad Inuwa for his shared prosperity vision with council leaderships.
He said: “If most governors are like you, I will have less work to do.”
The Chairman of ICPC, Musa Adamu Aliyu expressed dismay that only seven out of the 774 local government councils in Nigeria have websites, which makes it difficult to monitor their expenditures.
In his opening remarks, Governor Inuwa said the Summit was designed to improve the capacity of the Local Government administration in the State to meet the expectation of the people in the light of the new autonomy granted the council.
Gov Inuwa said: “For autonomy to be beneficial and useful, the councils must have capacity and discipline to utilize their resources for the good of the people.”
He said that Gombe State was not caught unaware by the Supreme Court ruling as it had already granted financial autonomy to the 11 councils in the state.
