The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Kogi State Chapter has condemned the illegal withdrawal of N420million from local government accounts by the state government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for campaign purposes.
On Friday 25th November, the Governor of Kogi State, Ibrahim Idris met with all the 21 Directors of Local Governments (DLGs) in the state at the Government House Lokoja where he mandated them to each contribute N20million to the electioneering campaigns of the PDP’s governorship candidate, Captain Idris Wada.
The ACN views this flagrant violation of the Electoral Act and the Nigerian Constitution as an affront on the people of Kogi State viewed against the backdrop that local government workers are on an indefinite strike across the state over none payment of their meagre salaries.
Asking the local governments to cough out N420million at a time LGAs in the state are in dire need of funds which the state government had earlier plundered is nothing but looting in the highest order.We wish to state that this has been the modus operandi of the Ibrahim Idris-led government in the state for the past nine years.It is mind boggling that at a time when the children of civil servants are dropping out of school due to their inability to pay school fees, the insensitive government in the state could deep its hands in the local governments till to prosecute elections because the account is under its direct supervision.
We call on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to intervene and sanction the perpetrators of this political fraud in the state.
We also urge the anti-graft agencies and relevant security bodies to investigate and stop the state government from further bleeding the people of the state.We use this medium to warn all DLGs in Kogi State that the ACN has put adequate machinery in place to detect any withdrawal of funds for PDP’s campaign purposes at this time.
The ACN is determined to ensure that any DLG that illegally withdraws money from the local government coffers for PDP’s electioneering activities is prosecuted to the letter.
The ACN is of the firm belief that the economic health of the state now in intensive care unit due to inordinate plundering by the state government would finally give up if the PDP is allowed to continue to govern the state beyond 2012.
For the avoidance of doubt, the ACN governorship candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu is out to redeem the state and bring back its lost glory.
One thing is clear; this kleptomaniac inclination of the PDP-led administration in Kogi State can only stop when Kogites rise up and use their votes wisely to reject them at the polls on December 3.
