The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has tasked Local Government Chairmen in Nigeria on transparency and accountability in their activities.
The EFCC Director of Organisational Support, Bolajii Salami, said corruption and lack of fiscal transparency were the causes of inefficiency and retarded growth in local councils in Nigeria
Salami told participants at an Anti-Graft Training for Local Government Officials that inflation of contracts, over-estimation of projects’ cost, ghost workers syndrome and abandoned projects were acts of corruption that needed to be checked in local governments.
Local government chairmen and other principal officers of local governments in seven states in the northwest were at the training school of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Karu, Abuja for the training.
The men were brought together by the association of local governments of Nigeria-Algon and the anti-graft body for training on how to rise above the numerous challenges in the local councils to deliver effective leadership and governance to the people.
Addressing the gathering, the President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Mr Ozo Nwabueze-Okafor, stressed the need for local government autonomy.
“We have been advocating and sensitising Nigerians on the need to have a local government system that has the financial autonomy to deal with the programmes they are having at that level. But we equally know that it is more important to have practitioners who have the capacity to manage such finances when they are given to them,” Mr Nwabeze-Ookafor said.
The Acting Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Mr Victor Muruako, stressed the importance of security in Nigeria, emphasising the role of the chairmen, who are at the grassroots.
That local governments failure to function effectively despite being the closest tier of government to the grassroots is a trend the anti-graft commission says must be reversed.
The Director, EFCC Organisational Support, Mr bolaji Salami, stressed that one way to ensure that local councils met the expectation of the people was to eradicate corruption at every level.
“Nigeria will be a better place where there is transparency and accountability at all tiers of government,” he said.
