Minister blasts governors over joint LG accounts

Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Mustapha Baba Shehuri, yesterday blasted state governors for “usurping” the powers of local governments in the name of joint accounts.

Shehuri told journalists in Maiduguri that the action had persistently blocked development from trickling down to the rural dwellers who form the majority of the country’s population.

Declaring his aspiration to vie for the governorship of Borno State in the 2019 elections, the minister said the near total lack of development at the local government areas due to the “usurpation” of their constitutional roles by governors had caused severe impoverishment of their populations.

This, he said, created and stoked insecurity in the name of such calamities as Boko Haram insurgency, kidnapping and banditry.

He said the situation “played significant role in instigating the calamitous Boko Haram insurgency,” and that seems to be the case with Zamfara, Kaduna, Kebbi and Sokoto states in their battle with groups of fluid marauders that burn down villages, killing innocent people.”

“…The unilateral usurpation of grants due to local government areas by states across the country has completely denied Local Government Areas the use of their legitimate funds to entrench development at the grassroots level where majority of the population resides.

He said: “People shouldn’t be sitting down siphoning the funds meant for LGs in the name of joint accounts.”