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By George Onah
Thursday, July 08, 2004
CALABAR — NIGERIA’S former Ambassador to Germany, Chief Mathew T. Mbu has condemned the huge deductions from local Government statutory allocation by the Cross River State Government. In a telephone interview, Mbu said the government's action amounted to dictatorship, stating that “I think it is absolutely abominable.”
Vanguard learnt, last week, that the state government carried out jumbo deductions from local government allocations, prompting the council chairmen to threaten rejection of the allocation. While the Federal Government released N56.2 million to Abi L.G, the state government gave only N5.1 million, Akamkpa got N5.8 million instead of N65.8 million, Akpabuyo got N4.7 million out of N53.3 million, Bakassi got N3.5million instead of N39.3 million, Bekwarra got N4.0 million out of N43.9 million, Biase's original allocation was N52.6m but it got N4.8 milion, Boki N72.8 million, it got N5.8 million, Calabar Municipal got N4.5 million instead of N56.7, Calabar South got N5.7 million out of N62.3.
The rest are Etung N4.0 million from N43.9, Ikom N5.2 million from N57.0, Obanliku N4.2 million from N45.0 million, Obubra N5.2 million from N50.1 million, Obudu N4.4 million from N53.4 million, Odukpani got N5.1 million out of N55.9m, Ogoja was allocated N54.7 million but got N4.9 million, Yakurr was allocated N49.3 million but got N4.4 million and Yala got N5.7 million instead of N64.6 million.
Angered by the develop-ment Mbu who is president of Ochibe Boki (an apex socio-cultural group of Boki Council) said he would “go to any extent to find that justice is done” and that the trend must be reversed for the sake of posterity. “I am speaking that if I have the facts, if they are correct, you can quote me, I will go to any extent to find that justice is done, I can tell you this, if the government of a state has the powers to do what they like with the allocation to local government, then they might as well scrap them. They don’t need them.
Scrap local governments and take all they give to them. It is too much for anybody to imagine. Are we running a dictatorship in that state? (Cross River), If it is a dictatorship, let them say so. But if we are not running a dictatorship, then what is the constitutional power of the state government to do what they are doing?
"There is no reason to justify that our local government or other local governments for that matter should be starved of funds. We have no roads; we have nothing at all that can be said the government is doing for us. If that little money that the Federal Government is kind enough to give to them should be interfered with, with this kind of deductions, I think it is absolutely abominable. To me, it is an abomination. Out of N72 million, you only give a paltry N5 million. What will they do with it? What will they (the government) do with the rest of our money? I want to see the figures, If I see the figures, I know what I will do."
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