The Kaduna State House of Assembly on Tuesday suspended three heads of local governments in the state; Kaura, Kagarko and Chikun, for alleged financial embezzlement.
The three local government chairmen were suspended after they were accused of awarding contracts without following due process, according to the Kaduna State Public Procurement Act 2016, Section 35 Subsection 23.
Following the resolution of 18 July 2023 and the mandate given by the assembly, a member representing Lere East, Munirat Sulaiman Tanimu, to act as chair of the ad hoc committee on the investigation, was ordered to scrutinize the financial activities of five local government areas: Chikun, Kaura, Kagarko, Soba and Birnin Gwari. The committee invited the affected presidents to provide financial documents, including bank statements from June 2022 to June 2023, to the vault (DVA), approved budgets for 2022 and 2023, capital and recurring expenditures for the respective years, and a list of contracts awarded and their levels of progress, among others.
However, after studying the documents, the committee found that the Kaura presidents, Kagarko and Chikun, had contravened Section 48 of the Local Government Administration Act 2018 and Section 35, Subsection 25 of the Kaduna State Procurement Act 2016.
She said these sections outline necessary compliance with state budget appropriations and public procurement regulations, adding that the committee recommended that the three presidents vacate their offices for the next six months for further investigation.
They have also been ordered not to be present in local government secretariats during this period and must hand over their responsibilities to their respective vice presidents.
Kaduna assembly suspends three LG chairmen
