Kabiru Jarimi, former Secretary of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Kaduna State Chapter, has refuted ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s assertion that he never meddled with local government funds during his tenure.
This rebuttal follows a statement by Kaduna State ALGON Executives, who dismissed El-Rufai’s allegations that Governor Uba Sani was diverting local government funds to acquire properties abroad.
The ALGON Executives not only denied El-Rufai’s claims but also revealed that Governor Sani had doubled their allocations. They further accused El-Rufai of implementing stringent policies that undermined local governments during his administration.
Spear News, El-Rufai, who recently defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), had alleged in an interview with Freedom Radio Kaduna that Governor Sani misused local government funds to purchase properties in Seychelles, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
“As I speak, no local government in Kaduna receives more than N50 million per month. Once the allocation arrives, they siphon it, exchange it into dollars, and use it to buy properties in Seychelles, South Africa, London, and other places,” El-Rufai had alleged.
However, Jarimi, who served under El-Rufai’s administration, dismissed the claim as inaccurate, asserting that the previous government routinely deducted funds from local councils’ allocations under various pretexts.
Speaking to pressmen on Sunday in Kaduna, he said, “I was shocked by El-Rufai’s comment because local government funds were deducted without our approval. Most of the deductions targeted Southern Kaduna LGAs.
“We never got our full allocations under El-Rufai. His government kept introducing policies to deduct funds unnecessarily. I even considered resigning. At times, we had no funds for overhead costs after paying salaries,” he said.
Jarimi alleged that El-Rufai justified the deductions as necessary to settle workers’ salaries, but the state government also employed various means to withdraw additional funds.
He cited the creation of Kaduna Capital Territory Authority, Zaria Metropolitan Authority, and Kafanchan Municipal Authority as conduits for short-changing local governments.
“Salaries were shared 60-40 between the capital territories and LGs around them. In Kaduna South, deductions were made in the name of sanitation, forcing us to remit funds to the Kaduna Capital Territory Authority every month,” he stated.
Jarimi challenged El-Rufai to explain where the deducted funds went, specifically questioning the use of security and riot damage funds.
“We contributed to a security fund, yet no former LGA chairman can account for how it was used. The same applies to the riot damage fund; no LGA benefited from it. I challenge the former Governor to explain where the money went,” he said.
Jarimi commended Governor Uba Sani for reversing many of El-Rufai’s policies, especially the abolition of the Kaduna Capital Territory Authority, Zaria Metropolitan Authority and the Kafanchan Municipal Authority as well as the security and riot damage funds.
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