From Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
Gombe state governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has tasked the newly elected Local Government Councils in the state to prosecute the former governor of the state Dr. Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo over unremitted N46.8 billion belonging to local governments.
The governor who made the call shortly after swearing-in the newly elected chairmen of the 11 Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state, said the directive was burned out of the desire of his administration to halt the act of looting and misappropriation of public funds.
According to him the previous administration led by Dankwambo had been borrowing N1.3 billion to pay salaries of local government staff every month for 3 years while the local government funds sent to Gombe as the grant was nowhere to be found but on papers.
He said: “Upon assumption of office in 2019 we realized that the previous administration was borrowing N1.3 billion to pay salaries of local government staff for about 3 years.
“Nafada LGA was said to have about N2 billion which is just on paper. Knowing fully that the act was not true I ordered the suspension of borrowing to pay salaries, I said we will pay the salaries without borrowing and be able to do the needful for our people. You are all encouraged to go and investigate we will support you to prosecute anybody to get back your funds,” the governor said while congratulating the newly sworn-in chairmen.
However, the state chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had condemned the electoral process as well as the declaration of the results by the Gombe state Independent Electoral Commission (GOSIEC) as it said there was no election in the state on Saturday.
According to Mr. Abnon Kwashebe, the state chairman of the PDP, what was experienced in the state was confirmation of the selected candidates by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
He added that the “so-called election was a mere selection of candidates which were only confirmed and that’s why some of the APC members complained about the imposition of those candidates. In all the 2218 polling units in Gombe state PDP’s polling agents were deployed but almost all have reported that elections did not hold in these polling units,” the chairman said.