Magu indicts governors, says they promote insecurity to inflate security vote

The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, on Wednesday, indicted state governors over the festering insecurity in parts of the country.

According to Magu, who spoke at the induction of new and returning state governors in Abuja, said some of the governors promote insecurity in their states just to be able to inflate their monthly security vote.

Insisting that he would not go into a debate on the constitutionality of security vote, the EFCC boss called state governors to be conscious of transparency in the expenditure of public funds.

He said: “we have also seen evidence of theft of public resources by some state governors – cashing on the insecurity in their states.

“Insecurity has also offered the required oxygen for corruption to thrive as evident in the $2.1bn arm procurement scandal involving top military commanders both serving and retired.”

Magu also insisted that corruption cannot be ruled out in the festering insurgency in Northeast, explaining that mass poverty in the region due in part to corruption by the ruling elite, is largely to blame for the ease with which the islamists are able to recruit fighters to sustain their aggression against the Nigerian state.

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He also alluded to the fact that corruption is the purveyor of militancy in the Niger Delta region.

“As an investigator, I am shocked by the quantum of resources stolen from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by those who run the intervention agency. It is so bad that even a mere personal assistant to a former Managing Director was charged for stealing over N3 billion”, he said.

Tasking in-coming and returning governors on the need to shun corruption, Magu said: “Whether we like it or not, corruption and terrorism have become the twin evils, undermining our collective efforts to make Nigeria a truly great country.”

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