Niger Assembly asks gov to publish findings on treasury looters

NIGER State House of Assembly has directed Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, to make public the reports of committees that investigated the last administration in the state.

The House asked Governor Bello to publish the reports of all committees set up to investigate the activities of the immediate past administration with particular reference to the state’s finances.

The Speaker, Ahmed Marafa, who gave the directive at the floor of the House while deliberating on the 2016 budget proposal, said that the people of the state want to know the report of the five committees inaugurated since the government came to power to investigate funds stolen by individuals in the previous administration.

According to the Deputy Speaker, Hussaini Ibrahim, stolen funds have been recovered in other states while the looters are being persecuted, but in Niger, the government has been dilly-dallying and not taking any action.

“It is sad that we have read of stolen funds being recovered in Benue, Kaduna and Plateau states and even mentioning amount recovered from those who looted government funds in the past administration, but the Niger State executive does not have the courage to come out with facts on looted funds. If the facts are out, it will show how serious the government is about recovering these monies.”

Deliberating on the 2016 budget, most of the members described the proposal as unrealistic especially with the fall in crude oil prices.