By Abdulkadir Aliyu Shehu
Anti-corruption Agencies have been urged to keep watch on financial transactions of outgoing governors, who have less than one year in office.
Comrade Kabiru Sa’idu Dakata Executive Director of the Center for Awareness on Justice and Accountability (CAJA), made the call during a current affairs programme, ‘Tumbin Giwa’ aired on Progress Radio and Television Gombe.
He said the Anti-graft agencies should continue monitoring activities of the outgoing governors, to prevent them from taking loans to award unnecessary contracts.
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Dakata added that the anti-graft agencies should keep watch on the recent approval granted to the Kano State Government, to borrow N10 billion to procure CCTV cameras, saying it is not the priority of people of the state at the moment.
According to him, the state government had claimed to have installed a giant monitoring screen in Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s office, from where he is monitoring activities throughout the state via CCTV cameras mounted in strategic locations.
When he asked on what role the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) should play to stop the governors from this unnecessary loans, Dakata said they are approaching the government to explain to them the implication of taking such loans.
He said they will try to make the government understand that, spending such huge amount of money on such projects, is counterproductive and not the priority of people of the state.
Kabiru Dakata if the government refused to listen to them, the CSOs will sue them before court of law, similar to what CAJA did against the Kano state government when they planned to borrow N400 billion .
On the hasty approval of the loan by the state House of Assembly, the CAJA executive director, alleged that the state government might have bribe the legislators, to guarantee quick passage of the loan request.
Dakata added that it was not the first time, that the state assemblies were accused of collecting bribe from the governors before approving any communication from the governors.
Comrade Dakata, therefore, urged the people to participate in governance by monitoring all the activities of their respective state governors.
He also called for joining hands with civil society groups, to stop the outgoing governors from unnecessary spending.
