Soludo, others plotting to squander tax payers’ money on Governorship, Assembly polls — Intersociety

Lawrence Nwimo, Awka

The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), has alleged that some governors are making plans to spend tax payer’s money to win votes in Saturday’s House of Assembly election.

The group raised the alarm in a special report to newsmen signed by the trio of Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman; Chinwe Umeche Esquire, Head, Democracy and Good Governance; and Chidinma Udegbunam, Head, Campaign and Publicity Department.

In Anambra State, the group alleged that governor Soludo has mapped out over two billion naira to ensure that candidates of the ruling All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) win and retains majority of the seats in the State’s Assembly poll.

The group said the findings were revealed after its investigations in the state, noting that over N1.2b has reportedly been spent and disbursed from the State coffers to the APGA candidates jostling for the Assembly seats in the state for logistics purposes and vote buying.

The report read: “As at Thursday, 9th and Friday, 10th March 2023, over N1.2b was reported to have been lavishly spent and disbursed from the State coffers and according to reliable information obtained, the whopping State funds were disbursed to “each of the 30 State ruling Party’s House of Assembly Candidates who received N20m, totaling N600m (for logistics supports such as cash sums for cash votes buying or procurement of food or personal items like cartons of Indomie, wrappers (abada clothes), small bags of rice, packs of tin tomatoes, tins of red and groundnut oils, etc for material votes buying).

“Each of the 21 Local Government Caretaker Committee Chairmen also reportedly received N30m, totaling N630m (for ‘mobilization supports’ including for sorting electoral officers such as SPOs, POs and APOs and INEC LGA admin officers).

“The LGAs Caretakers were also reportedly directed to use part of the N30m for electronic money transfer vote-buying using the likes of ‘O’Pay mobile banking, etc, for speedy and comfort deliveries.

“Others reported to have been listed to benefit from the second batch of the State funds (yet to be released and disbursed as at Wednesday, 15th March 2023) are conformist security operatives (police, army and navy personnel), traditional rulers/PGs and some influential market leaders and INEC top officials.

“The second batch, expected in multiple hundreds of millions of naira, is likely to hit the ground before end of Friday, 17th March 2023. In all, Anambra State Government is expected to wastefully spend from the State coffers N2.5b between 9th and 19th March 2023 for purposes of pre Election Day, Election Day and post Election Day Project of securing many, if not most of the 30 State Assembly seats by all means legitimately and illegitimately possible or achievable.”

The group also alleged that about 20 state governors rattled by what it described as “Tsunamic Obidient Ballot Effects” are readying not less than fifty billion naira from state coffers for vote buying and inducements so as to install their puppets as next governors and state lawmakers.

It listed the 20 states to include Anambra, Abia, Imo, Ebonyi, Enugu, Delta, Rivers, Cross River, Bayelsa, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba, Kaduna, Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti, Oyo and Kogi, noting that fears by the named 20 State Govs and their Governments stem from their desperation to install loyalist lawmakers in their State Assemblies who will be doing their biddings and covering their dirty dealings whenever called upon.

“From our findings, not less than N50b belonging to taxpayers of the above named 20 States are most likely to be wasted or squandered, out of which each of the 20 States is projected to engage in at least N2b wasteful spending.

“Anambra State is projected with N2b-N2.5b lavish spending while the three higher spending States are Lagos (projected with N10b spending), Rivers (projected with N6b-N10b spending) and Delta (projected with N5b-N6b spending).

“Each of the remaining 16 States is most likely to wastefully spend at least N2b. The beneficiaries of the wasteful States’ spending sprees include traditional rulers and chairs of town unions, religious leaders and market and transportation leaders (where necessary).

“These recipients will be captured under “mobilization of voters’ logistics.” Other key beneficiaries are State Assembly candidates of the Govs’ political parties (cash or material vote-buying and logistics supports), “elected” or appointed Local Government Transition Committee Chairmen or Chairpersons (for ‘INEC LGA admin heads and SPOs, POs and APOs’ and cash or material vote-buying supports’).

“Also in the involved are collectively and individually compromised security agents especially police and military personnel as well as conformist INEC’s substantive and ad hoc top officials such as conformist National Commissioners, RECs and Collation Officers in Charge.”

It called on the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), and other anti graft agencies to place the named 20 States under their watch-list and dispassionately do that justly required of them by law.

It also urged the security agencies to resist being pocketed by the governors and ensure that violence prone flashpoints in the states are nipped in the bud with adequate and proactive security arrangement.