ALGON is not a subheading under which local government finances can be spent. It has no statutory responsibility for the administration of local governments. Though described as the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), its membership comprises persons elected to lead local council administrations.
The Justice Kpojime Commission of Inquiry settled this matter when it found that the use of local government funds to finance ALGON was illegal and amounted to an abuse of office.
Unfortunately, the practice continued under former Governor Samuel Ortom’s administration; the same administration that commissioned the Justice Kpojime Commission.
If you are an ALGON chairman, you must be mindful that the position is not your primary responsibility. Your first duty is to the people who elected you to lead their local government. You are not elected to use their resources to pursue the interests of your fellow chairmen or the political interests of those who put them there.
At the end of the day, when local government finances are subjected to scrutiny, you will not be judged by how well you used public funds to service your colleagues or the political “demigods” behind them. You will be judged by how responsibly you utilised the funds entrusted to your care.
From Mr. Maurice Orwough (Guma) to Mr. Vitalis Neji (Kwande) and now Dr. Justine Shaku (Katsina-Ala), the message should be clear: Trade with caution whenever local government funds are involved, even as you have the privilege of leading your colleagues as ALGON chairman.
You will eventually be called upon to account for the local government funds under your control. No one may accept the excuse that you spent part of the money on ALGON because ALGON is not recognised under the Constitution as a government department with statutory authority over local government finances.
The governor may not be there to bail you out.
After all, you make the deductions and communicate them to the governor. Whether or not you eventually share the proceeds with him is something you may have to explain. The burden of accounting for the funds rests with you.
I wish Dr. Shaku well in his new role, but I would remind him that the law is watching.
May he not be carried away by those hailing him and urging him to “ta kwagh nya.” When the time comes to answer questions, he may have to stand alone and explain how the local government funds entrusted to him were spent.
ALGON leadership may give you the privilege of leading your colleagues, but it does not relieve you of your primary duty to the people you were elected to serve. Public funds are held in trust, and those who control them will ultimately be called to account.
