Government Of Corruption and Wastage In Plateau As Gov. Lalong Extravagantly Squandered N97 Billion Just In One Year
Yakubu Busari
Plateau State Governor Simon Bako Lalong has been accused of wasting over N97 billion belonging to the State in just one year, the PDP in the State made the accusation today in Plateau, according to them they said the Governor just wanted to be an entertainer to Plateau citizens with his commission of inquiry even as they accused him of topping the lists of corrupt governors in Nigeria.
The Governor was also accused of collecting over N97 billion in the last one year and two months as allocation but has squandered the money in frivolities and wasteful spending spree which has no benefit to the State.
The Chairman of People Democratic Party, in Plateau, Hon Damishi Sango disclosed these at a world press conference held Tuesday in Jos the Plateau state.
The former minister for sports drew the attention of EFCC to the State, even as he queried that the governor should show which projects they have executed in the State as he has always claim.
He accused Lalong of embarking on spending spree as well as wasting billions of naira uncontrollably by purchasing exotic cars for his personal use and for selected cabinet appointees even when their names has not been submitted for screening.
According to him, one year down the line the lives of Plateau citizens has become worst under Lalong, as he said the state has been crippled by the manacles of corruption ,segregation and chains of tribal and political discrimination by the APC government in Plateau .
Sango alleged that the mismanagement under the APC needs to be exposed because people cannot afford to see food and eat in their homes.
He said Lalong took loan of N18 billion from commercial banks for personal use, while at the same time he is crying out loud that he had inherited crippling loans from the previous administration.
The former Minister of Sports also asked, “Why was a whopping N4.5 billion spent on luxury cars for selected government officials at a time pensioners and civil servants were being denied their pay package?
Sango lamented further that Lalong has spent N1.4 billion naira to purchase and install GPRS tracking devices on 100 cars, an amount which he said it means that N14 million was to track one car for one year.
According to him, the aforementioned figures do not include the N155 million, which he said has been on insurance for the 100 cars.
The PDP Chairman further alleged that the present administration in the state claimed that over N500 million was spent on patching/rehabilitation of roads within the metropolis, “yet potholes on our roads even within the city are permanent features of our driving experience.”
“We have since discovered that what they said about RESCUE is very different from what they meant by rescue, their practicing of rescue is, ‘personal pocket Rescue; family and friends rescue “, he noted.
He stated that the Government of the day has created unnecessary distraction by constantly engaging in whipping up sentiments and controversy over the handing over notes from the previous administration.
He added thus; “In Plateau today, our people are living on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of vast federal allocations and internally generated revenue.
He expresses worry to the endless borrowing of billions of Naira for invisible projects and even as he accused him of not willing to pay salaries, pensions for months now despite receiving huge bailout funds in billions of naira.
According to him, rescue doesn’t mean impunity by a lawyer and a one-time head of the state legislature who illegally dissolved constitutionally -elected and established local government councils chairmen
He explained that ,there are lies in the moral dilemma of the Buhari administration so far for one year even as he said Naira is now 413 to a dollar.
