Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, the governor of Kwara State, on Monday, August 3, 2020, constituted an 8-man probe panel to investigate the Federal government allocations accruing to the 16 local government councils in the State.
The panel will also probe the councils’ share of the Internally Generated Revenue from May 29, 2019, to date.
A statement by his spokesman, Rafiu Ajakaye, on Monday, August 3, 2020, in Ilorin, announced the constitution of the panel.
“In pursuance of the powers conferred on the governor of Kwara State, under the Commission of Inquiry Law CAP C17 Laws of Kwara State, 2006 and other enabling law in that regard, l Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, the Governor of Kwara State, hereby constitute a panel of inquiry into local government federal allocations and IGR accruing to local government councils from May 29, 2019, to date,” the statement noted.
The terms of reference of the panel include among others, to ascertain the amounts received by local government councils as statutory allocation from the Federal government from May 29, 2019, to date.
It will also determine and ascertain the amounts received by the local governments as IGR from the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service, KWIRS, from May 29, 2019, to date.
The panel will determine and ascertain the amounts received by the local governments from other sources into the Joint Allocation Account Committee, JAAC, from May 29, 2019, to date.
It is further mandated to investigate the veracity of the claim of N300 million monthly deductions by the Kwara state government from the local government funds from May 29, 2019, to date.
The probe panel, which has two weeks to submit its report, will also determine whether the state government borrowed money from banks or financial institutions to pay salaries at any point in time from May 29, 2019, to date.
It will further determine the duplicity or otherwise by any Kwara state public official on the matter of local government funds and how the funds mentioned above were spent monthly by the JAAC.
The constitution of the probe panel is coming after the governor’s official request to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the state legislature to probe the matter.
The panel has retired Justice Mathew Olabamiji Adewara, as the chairman and Sabitiyu Grillo, a Permanent Secretary as the secretary.
Source: Daily Post
