The All Progressives Congress (APC) has sounded the alarm over purported plans by the Kano State Government to spend a staggering N8 billion from local government councils’ funds without proper justification.
Abdullahi Abbas, the state’s APC chairman, issued a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, expressing serious concerns about the situation. He urged the local government councils and commercial banks in the state to immediately halt the process of releasing funds to the state government.
The political uncertainty in the state, stemming from the eagerly anticipated Supreme Court judgment on the governorship election, has further exacerbated the situation. Abbas alleged that the developments seemed to indicate a move by the government to assume control of the functions of the local government councils with the intention of misappropriating over N8 billion in funds.
According to Abbas, the APC had obtained a copy of the approval letter from the Ministry for Local Government, which directed the 44 local government councils to release N101 million each for the construction of Dan’Agundi interchange and N36 million each for the construction of Tal’udu interchange.
Furthermore, Abbas revealed that the NNPP government had taken steps to remove and replace Directors of Personnel Management (DPMs) and treasurers in order to ensure the smooth execution of their plan to siphon funds from the local councils.
In his statement, Abbas appealed to the NNPP government to prioritize the interests of the people of the state. He emphasized that the decision to embark on such projects had drawn criticism even from within the NNPP’s own ranks.