The Federal Government has issued a warning of imprisonment to chairmen of Local Government Areas who may get involved in the mismanagement of funds allocated by the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC).
This warning was issued on Thursday by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
Fagbemi, during the 17th-anniversary yearly gathering of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria in Abuja, stated that all the chairmen are not above the law and will face imprisonment for misusing the funds designated for their local development.
He said, “Well, we have a situation on our hands; I know that it is still there; the conduct of elections is to be undertaken by the states.
“But the distinction is this: don’t forget, the governors have immunity, the local government council chairmen or councillors, they have no immunity, so they have to choose between dealing with the funds of the local government as they like and risking going to jail. The choice is theirs (LG chairmen).
“If they want to tamper with these funds and end up in jail, it is their choice. If they want to write their names in letters of gold, activities like construction or road upgrades must be returned to the local government. They don’t all have to come to Abuja.
“If they stay at the local government, we will be able to reduce the level of insecurity that we have in Nigeria today. What obtains offshore is that the security agents are able to perform optimally because of information that comes to them from members of the public, and usually it is from the grassroots.”
