The Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR) has called on Kogi State government to publish the statutory allocations from the Federation account to the 21 Local government councils and what it had done with it.
The centre gave the challenge in a press statement signed by the Executive Director of CHRCR, Comrade Idris Miliki Abdul.
“It is worrisome that since May 6th 2016, when Alhaji Yahaya Bello appointed ‘Administrators’ for the 21 local government councils without any law or pronouncement or resolution of the Kogi State House of Assembly, no one knows the statutory allocations accruing to each of the 21 local government councils in the state.
“It is disturbing that the governor pronounced during the inauguration of the REVENUE HOUSE on the 27th of January 2017, that he had granted autonomy to local government councils in the state. The question is, can the local government councils be autonomous when they are not democratically constituted?
“Where is the Statutory Allocations to the 21 Local government councils since May 2016? We challenge the Kogi State government to publish the Statutory Allocations from the Federation account to the 21 Local government councils and what it had done with it.
“As at March 2017, there are no budgets pending before the Kogi State House of Assembly for local governments councils even when they claim that the monies being spent by the illegal ‘Administrators’ where appropriated by the immediate past elected local government councils. The law does not permit the spending of unappropriated public funds at all levels of government.
He called on Governor Yahaya Bello to put machinery in place for the conduct of elections to local government councils without delay according to the provisions of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria as amended.
