- Gov Shettima Asked To Make Public Details Of All Donations
- Challenged On N600m Monthly Expenditure Claims
There have been conflicting reports of the actual donations received on behalf of internally Displaced Persons, IDPs by the Borno State Government, just as controversies continue to trail the utilization of the donations, which do not seem to make any impact on the lives of the supposed beneficiaries.
While the Borno State Government keeps details of the total receipts to its chest, claiming to be spending N600 million monthly on the upkeep of 22 IDP camps scattered around Maiduguri the state capital, citizens are beginning to demand explanations on the whereabouts of the money collected in the names of IDPs from several donors, including Dangote group and others.
Records indicate that, Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote was amongst the first donors towards the upkeep of IDPs, but to date no tangible explanations could be given on how his N2 Billion donation was blown, Similarly, former Central Bank Governor, now Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is still demanding explanations on what happened to his N100 million donation,
Investigations reveal that, the Republic of Australia made a donation of N900 million through the State Governor, Kashim Shettima, the whereabouts of which is still controversial, even as Saudi Arabia’s N750 Million as well as several other donations by Arab countries and the middle east have not yet been accounted for.
Findings on the average monthly spending on IDPs revealed that only about N40 million was being spent, and not N600 million as being claimed by the state Governor, and that even, the N40 Million for their upkeep is being deducted from the monthly allocations of affected Local Government Councils at source, while State Government votes for the purposes end up in private pockets.
While the EFCC remains on the trails of alleged diverted Local Government funds, officials of the Borno State Government have been reported to be buying properties all over Nigeria.
This is even as a Non Governmental Organization, Borno Transparency Initiative, BOTI, has raised the alarm over the mismanagement of funds donated through the Borno State Government for the upkeep of internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, and the rehabilitation of communities devastated by insurgency across the state.
Coordinator and Public Relations Officer of the organization, Inusa Yerima Pulka and Bakura Bukar Kaleri, BBK, who were on a visit to nationalTRAIL office in Abuja revealed that, the state Government has failed to account for the N2 billion donated by Dangote Group in 2013, N900 million from the Australian, n750 Million from Saudi Arabia, N300 Million from Lebanon amongst other donations from other Arab Countries, the Middle East, and good spirited individuals.
According to them, IDPs are wallowing in squalor, disease and starvation, while the State Governor, Kashim Shettima is busy buying property in Dubai, US, Abuja, Maiduguri, Kaduna Kano and other places, with public funds, even as he pretends to care for the displaced persons.
In promising to publish details of donations so far received by the Borno State Government on behalf of IDPs in addition to what the federal Government has been giving, the political pressure group challenged governor Shettima to publish his own facts about expenditures on IDPs as against money received on behalf of IDPs for public scrutiny.
“To date, nobody has explained how the N2 Billion donated by Dangote to the IDPs was squandered and nobody seems to be asking questions. We know that Middle East countries have made donations, good spirited people have given donations, yet we do not see what is being done with such funds. The situation of IDPs is worsening, and the Borno state Government claims to be taking care of them. It is time to talk”, Kaleri explained.
By Yahaya WAKILI, Maiduguri
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