The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has vowed to investigate allegations of diversion of local government funds in Kogi State, following a petition submitted at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.

EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, made the pledge while addressing a peaceful protest by members of the Igala Youth Council (IYC) and other concerned civil society organisations from Kogi State.

The protesters had stormed the commission, alleging a systematic diversion of funds meant for grassroots development, workers’ welfare, and community projects across the 21 local government areas of Kogi State.

While displaying placards with various inscriptions, the demonstrators cited three councils, Dekina, Yagba East, and Adavi, as case studies.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, President of the Igala Youth Council, Onogu Collins, said the alleged diversion has crippled local administration and deprived communities of basic services.

He urged the EFCC to conduct an independent audit of all local government allocations from 2024 to date and to prosecute those found culpable.

He said the analysis of publicly available records showed gaps between allocations received and salary expenditure across the councils.

He said that the observations called for clarification and improved oversight.

Recall that on July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that local governments must receive their allocations directly from the Federation Account, describing the long-standing practice of routing the funds through state governments as unconstitutional.

In response, the Federal Government constituted an inter-agency panel to oversee the implementation of the ruling and directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to open individual accounts for each of the 774 local government councils across the country to facilitate direct disbursements. But the process remains largely unimplemented.

Collins said the organisations were not making allegations but calling for transparency to strengthen grassroots governance.

Collins said: “Despite the constitutional provision guaranteeing full autonomy of local government finances by the Federal government, the state government continues to interfere with and control funds meant for local governments.
“We state unequivocally that this is a direct violation of the constitution and gross misconduct, and we demand immediate rectification. We demand full access to statutory funds for local government chairmen, free from executive interference and stop the chairman from returning local government funds back to the state.

Receiving the petition, Oyewale said, “We can assure you that as usual with the EFCC, diligent investigation will be carried out and the petition will be looked into”.