•Says development not commensurate with allocation
CHAIRMAN of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Lamorde, on Tuesday, said the level of development in the 36 states of the federation is not commensurate with the huge amount of funds released to the states from the federation account.
Addressing participants at a seminar on anti-corruption, fiscal responsibility and good governance for state government officials in Nigeria, in Abuja, on Tuesday, the EFCC boss blamed the development on high level corruption and poor fiscal responsibility.
“Poor service delivery, inadequate infrastructure, poor management of public enterprise, bad governance, moral decadence and general under-development are among the impact of corruption on attempt at development among state governments in the country,” he said.
Lamorde, who was represented by the secretary of the commission, Ayo Oyewole, said investigation by the commission revealed that corruption in state governments thrived in the areas of inflation of prices, over-estimation of cost of projects, ghost workers syndrome and outright payment of huge sums of money to political godfathers, among others.
He said the seminar was part of EFCC’s efforts to enlighten and train state government officials on what they needed to avoid and pledged the readiness of the commission to help Nigeria achieve greatness.
In his speech, the deputy chairman, House Committee on State and Local Government Affairs, Honourable Ibrahim Lawal Nuhu, observed that government institutions and the society at large were characterised by corruption which, he noted, had hindered the growth of the country.
Source: Tribune
