Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has accused governors of
promoting insecurity in their states in order to inflate their security votes.
Presenting a paper on Wednesday
in Abuja at the just-concluded induction programme for the returning and newly
elected governors by the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Magu urged the
governors to be transparent in the expenditure of public funds.
He maintained that the insurgency
in the north east, militancy in the Niger Delta and banditry are products of
corruption. He also said that the country’s loss to corruption runs into
trillions of naira in the last decade.
“We have also seen evidence of
theft of public resources by some state governors – cashing on the insecurity
in their states,” Magu said.
“Insecurity has also offered the
required oxygen for corruption to thrive as evident in the $2.1 billion arm
procurement scandal involving top military commanders both serving and retired.
“Mass poverty in the region due in
part to corruption by the ruling elite, is largely to blame for the ease with
which the islamists are able to recruit fighters to sustain their aggression
against the Nigerian state.
“As an investigator, I am shocked
by the quantum of resources stolen from the Niger Delta Development Commission
(NDDC) by those who run the intervention agency. It is so bad that even a mere
personal assistant to a former Managing Director was charged for stealing over
N3 billion.
“Whether we like it or not,
corruption and terrorism have become the twin evils, undermining our collective
efforts to make Nigeria a truly great country.”
The security vote is a monthly
allowance, which is allocated to states, for the funding of security services,
depending on the nature and level of insecurity.
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