PDP asks Bello to account for local council funds

As the Niger state governor sets to grant local government in the state autonomy this month, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in state has told the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration-led by Abubakar Sani Bello to account for the local government funds collected by the state in the last one year.

PDP also said that any attempt to abolish the state and the local government joint account would amount to illegality because it is a creation of the Constitution, saying that no executive governor could by fiat abrogate the law.

The chairman of the party in the state, Mr Tanko Beji, a lawyer, who challenged the governor while exchanging views with newsmen in Minna lamented that activities had grounded in the local government areas because the chairmen and their councilors did not have money to work. “We want to know how much has accrued to the local government areas since the APC government came into office, how they spent the money and under what law was the money was spent,” Beji said.

The PDP Chairman said apart from payment of local government staff salaries, no kobo has been released to any of the 25 local government areas in the state since May 2015 for capital projects. The PDP chairman also challenged the governor to tell the world why he has refused to assent to the 2016 appropriation bill passed by the House of Assembly over three months ago,even as he continued to spend money without the bill being assented to.