President Muhammadu Buhari has accused the 36 State governors and the Council chairmen of stealing the local government allocations and by so doing stifling the development in rural areas of the country.
The President who made the accusations against the State Executives on Thursday, accused them of running down the local government areas unfairly.
The Federal Government, had on Wednesday blamed state governors for the high rate of poverty in the states, stressing that they give more attention to the construction flyovers, skyscrapers, and airports than improving conditions in rural areas.
The President spoke while hosting members of the Senior Executive Course 44 (2022) of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He described the level of fraudulent acts being perpetrated by some governors in the management of funds meant for the local councils as unfair.
He cited a personal experience involving an unnamed governor saying that the fraudulent act was beyond human comprehension.
According to the President, some State governors would collect money on behalf of council areas in their states, only to remit half of such allotment to the council Chairmen, who would further deplete the remittance in furtherance of theft of public funds.
President Buhari blamed the fraudulent actions of the governors on lack of integrity and greed.
Buhari added that such behaviors are quite reprehensible and speak to the height of corruption in the nation.
“Speaking from personal experience, a Cheif 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 N100 million, let’s put it at N100 million, N50 million will be sent to the chairman with a letter that he will sign that he received N100 million
“The governor will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wanted to and then the chairman of the local government will say how much he must pay as salaries.
“To hell goes to development. Monies for the salaries will be given and the balance he will put in his pocket. This is what is happening in Nigeria, and it is a terrible thing.
“You cannot 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 is a matter of conscience, which ever level we find ourselves. As a leader you sit here with all the sacrifices the country is making by putting through institutions and getting you ready to lead,the fundamental thing is personal integrity. May God help us.” The President said.
