Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele
Fayose has queried President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of $1 billion for the
procurement of security equipment to fight Boko Haram insurgency.
He described it as pooling of
public funds for the purpose of funding President Buhari’s reelection as well
as the coming governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States.
The governor demanded to know
whether the $1 billion was from the Excess Crude Account (ECA), adding that,
“it will be illegal and against the principle of federalism that operates in
Nigeria for the President, who is the head of just one of the federating units
to approve spending of fund belonging to the three tiers of government without
the consent of heads of other federating units.
In a statement issued in Ado
Ekiti on Wednesday, and signed by his Special Assistant on Public
Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose asked: “When did
the National Assembly approve the spending of the $1 billion? Or can the
President spend $1 billion belonging to Nigerians without the approval of the
National Assembly?”
He said “Nigerians required
explanations from the federal government as to where the $1 billion will be
sourced because the President lacked power to unilaterally spend money from the
Excess Crude Account.
“Not even when there is a pending
suit by Ekiti State Local Council Chairmen, challenging the powers the 36 state
governors to purportedly execute the constitutional duty of the Federal
government without the their consent.
“Another question the federal
government must answer is; which insurgency are they buying arms worth N370
billion to fight? Is it the same Boko Haram that they told Nigerians they
completely defeated?
“Since they said they have
defeated Boko Haram, and later told Nigerians that they had ceasefire agreement
with the insurgents, what else do they need a whopping sum of $1 billion (over
N370 billion) for; if not to fund the 2019 elections?
“Also, up till now, the
government is yet to give satisfactory explanations as to the abduction and
return of the Dapchi School Girls. With the hurried approval of $1 billion, is
it not being reinforced that the Boko Haram insurgency has become a source of
looting public fund by this government?
“It is on record that
Transparency International (TI) once said in its report that some top military
officials in the country were feeding fat from the war against Boko Haram by
creating fake contracts and laundering the proceeds in the United States,
United Kingdom and elsewhere.”
The governor reiterated his
challenge to the federal government to make available to Nigerians, how the
money released by international donors for the fight against Boko Haram was
spent.
He said; “Like I have maintained,
they are building a very huge financial war chest towards the 2019 elections
and our treasury is daily being looted to achieve this. One of such means is
the $1 billion approved by the President, purportedly for the procurement of
arms to fight a Boko Haram insurgency they claimed to have defeated.”
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