- The Kaduna State House of Assembly has suspended 3 local government chairmen for alleged financial mismanagement
- The suspension was announced after the chairmen were accused of awarding contracts without following due process
- The remaining 2 local government chairmen were reprimanded for failing to obtain the approved budget for 2023 from the Ministry of Local Government on time
The Kaduna State House of Assembly has suspended three local government chairmen for alleged financial mismanagement in the state.
The suspension was announced on Tuesday after the chairmen were accused of awarding contracts without following due process, as required by Section 35 Subsection 23 of the Kaduna State Public Procurement Law of 2016.
The ad hoc committee on investigation, chaired by Munirat Sulaiman Tanimu, a member representing Lere East, thoroughly investigated the financial activities of five local government areas: Chikun, Kaura, Kagarko, Soba, and Birnin Gwari.
The Assembly mandated the investigation following a resolution passed on July 18, 2023.
Tanimu explained that the committee requested financial documents from the affected chairmen, such as bank statements from June 2022 to June 2023, departmental vault account (DVA), approved budgets for 2022 and 2023, capital and recurrent expenditures for the respective years, and a list of awarded contracts and their levels of completion, among other things.
The committee discovered that the Kaura, Kagarko, and Chikun chairmen had violated Section 48 of the Local Government Administration Law of 2018 and Section 35 Subsection 25 of the Kaduna State Public Procurement Law of 2016.
She stated that these sections outline the requirements for adhering to budget allocations and the state’s public procurement regulations.
As a result, the committee recommended that the three chairmen leave their positions for the next six months to conduct additional research.
They were also instructed not to attend local government secretariats during this time and to delegate their responsibilities to their respective vice chairmen.
The Assembly also acknowledged that the chairmen of Birnin Gwari and Soba local governments had not broken any laws but were chastised for failing to obtain the approved budget for 2023 from the Ministry of Local Government on time.
The House Speaker, Yusuf Liman Dahiru, who presided over the plenary, and contributed to the report, emphasized that all political officeholders should refrain from embezzling public funds, warning that anyone found guilty would face strict legal consequences without any preferential treatment.
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