Desmond Mgboh, Kano
The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission has charged the Chairman, Kumbotso Local Government Area, Alhaji Kabiru Ado Panshekara, to court over alleged criminal breach of trust and making a false statement regarding the distribution of COVID-19 palliatives in his area.
The Chairman, who had earlier been arrested by the Commission, is to appear before a Kano Magistrate Court (Court 82) sitting at Rijiyar Zaki on Wednesday.
In a suit filed by Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission before the Chief Magistrate Court of Kano State, the Commission alleged that the Chairman’s action contravened Section 315 of the Penal Code law and Section 26 of Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Law 2008 (As amended).
The Commission had listed his alleged offence to include distributing palliatives to security personnel, comprising of the police, Department of State Services and Immigration and Hisbah guards in his area, saying that the action was a violation the Provision of Section 22, 23 and 26 of the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission Law 2008 (as amended).
The Commission insisted that all political office holders, civil servants at federal, state and local government levels, political party officials at ward level, traditional rulers, imams and pastors and casual workers at Federal, State and Local Government were all excluded from the beneficiaries of the COVID-19 palliative materials.
Meanwhile, the 44 Local Government Chairmen in Kano State have pulled out of the distribution of COVID-19 palliative materials in solidarity with their colleague.
A statement signed by the Chairman, Association of Local Government Chairmen (ALGON), Kano State Chapter, Dr Lamin Sani, said that alongside their 484 Councillors, they have resolved to pull out of the distribution exercise to allow the district heads to distribute the materials in order to avoid further complaints.
The Chairmen also observed that they were shocked to read of the accusation preferred against them by the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti–Corruption Commission.
The Chairmen maintained that “to the best of our knowledge, no local government chairman diverted anything from the COVID-19 palliative materials to his personal or political associates,” they insisted, adding that the distribution of the first phase of the palliative materials was done according to the official guidelines of the government.
They assured the public that they would never engage themselves in any act capable of derailing the efforts of the state government’s aim of ameliorating the hardship faced by the people of the state in this period of lockdown.