Niger probes N4.4bn LGAs bailout funds

 Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State has inaugurated a seven-man administrative panel of inquiry to ascertain the utilisation of the N4.4 billion bailout to 12 local government councils for payment of workers' salary arrears.
A statement by Jibrin Baba Ndace, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, said the panel headed by a retired Permanent Secretary in the state civil service, Mr. Daniel Tarachi, is to unravel why the affected local government councils failed to pay staff salaries despite the bailout by the state government.
Governor Sani Bello said the panel became necessary following the high level of financial recklessness and impunity at the grassroots level and the need to curtail the development from further causing more havoc.
He frowned at what he called “irresponsible behaviour of some of the local government chief executives” for refusing to pay their staff even when the state government had released funds to assist them.
He observed that some of the affected local government councils had started paying when they heard of government’s move to look into the immediate and remote cause of their failure to pay.
Bello said: “I find it necessary to set up this panel to know what really happened, what went wrong, how the fund given was disbursed and what it was used for. I cannot understand why primary school teachers and local government staff will be owed about five months’ salary after the councils have been given money to pay.
“We used the proceeds from the Paris Club recovery to bailout the affected councils, but some chairmen diverted and used the money for some flimsy things. This is not acceptable. We are going to get to the root of the matter and any chairman found wanting will face the law.”
The panel has one month to complete the assignment.