Bello, while inaugurating the new council administrators inside the Glass House in Lugard House in Lokoja on Friday, called on them to buy into the New Direction Policy of his administration by improving the lives of their people.
He said, “This is a position of trust given to each of you to impact on the lives of your people. Our administration is committed to empowering the people of this state and today, you have been appointed as agents of this initiative.
“The funds that come to the local government councils belong to the people and should be used to improve education, health, agriculture and rural infrastructure. The era of stashing away, local government funds in foreign and local bank accounts of private individuals is over. Under my watch, the resources of the people will work for them. Anybody caught stealing Kogi people’s money will be jailed.”
Bello said his administration had granted full financial autonomy to the Local Government Areas in the state, warning the administrators against being arm-twisted by officials of his government.
“I will not demand a dime from you. Any of my officials who demand money from you should be exposed. We are serious about fighting corruption in line with the policy of President Muhammadu Buhari administration at the centre.
“That said, we will beam our searchlight on the operations of your respective Local Government Areas to ensure you act in line with the rule of law. Nobody influenced your appointments. I considered you as partners in my onerous task of developing the state.”
The governor also thanked the outgoing council chairmen for their cooperation with his government, assuring them of the readiness of his administration to work with their forum.
Speaking on behalf of the outgoing Chairmen, the Chairman of the Conference of Local Government Chairmen in the state, Aloysius Okino, described the governor as a “magnanimous democrat and a listener who will surely take the state to the Promise Land.”
In a related development, Bello has vowed to recover funds looted from the state through organised crimes such as ghost workers and ghost school syndrome as well as failed contracts in the past.
The recovered funds, he said, would be used to develop the state.
The governor said this while addressing youths from the 21 local government areas of the state during an interactive forum in Lokoja as part of activities to mark his 100 days in office on Friday.
Bello added that nothing would stop his resolve to recover the stolen funds which, he said, ought to have been used to better the lot of the people.
He said, “The staff verification exercise had really uncovered fraudulent activities of some civil servants, this government will definitely recover these looted funds and it shall be channel toward the provision of basic social amenities to the people especially those at the grassroots.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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