The Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Elder Simon Achuba, has accused Gov. Yahaya Bello of failing to account for N53.8 billion funds the state received between 2016 and last year.
But the state government in a swift reaction, described the allegation by the deputy governor as a blatant lie.
However, documents made available to Vanguard indicated that the amount consisted of unaccounted receipts from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The allegation is coming on the heels of a fierce contest for the All Progressives Congress, APC, ticket in the November 16, 2019, governorship election in Kogi State.
The documents showed that Kogi State government received a total of N104. 239 billion within the three-year period, under reference.
However, only N50.455 billion was received by the Joint Account Allocation Committee (which is supposed to share funds between the state government and the local councils), leaving a shortfall of N53.783 billion.
The breakdown showed that in 2016, the state got N26,146,999,320.62 but only N9,297,742, 330.72 was paid into the JAAC, leaving a shortfall of N16,849, 256,989.88 .
Similarly, in 2017, the state received N34,549, 400,031.71 but only N20,152,671,10351 got into the JAAC, leaving N14,396,728,928.20 unaccounted for.
Last year, the state received the sum of N3,543,198,591.44 from the FAAC but paid only N21, 005,459,434.58 got into the JAAC, leaving a shortfall of N22,537,739,156.86.
Another document presented to Vanguard outlined how a separate N4 billion was allegedly siphoned from the public treasury through the governor’s cronies.
It indicated that Kogi State government engaged the services of a consulting firm for purposes of revenue automation and management, as well as creation of tax payers’ data base.
The document showed that the consulting firm partnered an IT solution company for the automation, while a new generation bank was made the Bank for Revenue collection in the state.
The consulting firm applied and secured a loan facility to the tune of N4 billion from the bank for the automation of internally generated revenue process of the state, repayable within eighteen months from Kogi State IGR account.
The document contained irregularities as the N4 billion loan amount was credited to the consulting firm’s account in the same bank on June 23, 2017.
However, N3.9 billion was subsequently transferred to KGSG IGR Lead Account same day.
The same funds were moved that same day to KGSG/JAAC and then supposedly disbursed to all the 21 local government areas.
Curiously, the funds said to have been transferred to the LGAs were withdrawn in cash, an indication that it must have been taken out of the system fraudulently.
The contention was that state government could not have honestly paid that amount to the consulting firm since the service provider had entered into an agreement with the government to take 5 percent of tax earnings captured through the automated system.
The deputy governor, who cried out recently that the governor had refused to pay him his salaries and was after his life, urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC not to support Gov. Bello’s second term bid.
He insisted that the governor must be held to account on how he had managed the resources of the state, especially given the anti-corruption stance of President Buhari.
Meanwhile, Kogi State government has described as false the from the deputy governor that Governor Yahaya Bello could not account for N58.3 billion the state got from the federation account.
Reacting on behalf of government, Kingsley Fanwo, the Director-General, Media and Publicity, also described the deputy governor as an enemy of APC doing a hatchet job.
Fanwo said: “Elder Simon Achuba has been recruited by the enemies of Kogi State and the All Progressives Congress, APC, for a hatchet job that is headed for doom.
“The allegations and figures bandied in the statement are politically woven to achieve an impossible end. The allegations are not only false but also ludicrous, unintelligent and not unexpected of a fellow who had been contracted to ensure the defeat of APC ahead of the general elections.
“Elder Simon Achuba has been frustrated by the busting of his many lies against the state government, and instead of retracing his steps and apologize to the government and people of Kogi State, he has decided to carry his desperation to the unimaginable height of recklessness.
“As a government, we will remain focused on delivering democracy dividends to the people of Kogi State. One of such is our ongoing Operation Power Kogi East Project which is working to give electricity to over 200 communities in Kogi East.
“Part of the angst of the gang of thoroughly discredited so called leaders are the fact that Governor Yahaya Bello has succeeded where they failed. He has chosen to serve the everyday people rather than the elites who feel the commonwealth is their exclusive right.
“APC will win the governorship election as it won the Presidential, National Assembly and House of Assembly election. What has positioned APC to win the elections is the work that has been done to fix Kogi State by the governor.
”His footprints on every sector of the economy has been magical. The people are solidly with him. Moreover, Governor Yahaya Bello has been a loyal party man who has been deployed by the party to win elections in other states. If he could do it in other states, doing it in Kogi has been proven to be seamless, with the manner he led the party to victories in the last rounds of elections.”
