Former Governor of Adamawa State, Barr Bala Ngilari has given insight into how it was possible for many state governors in Nigeria to dip their hands in the public treasury and loot the resources of their state.
Ngilari who spoke while featuring as a guest on Channels Television programme ‘Sunrise Daily’ which was monitored by QUEST TIMES said governors wield so much power and they are like demi-gods who have virtually everything under their control.
The former governor was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on September 21, 2016, and was convicted and sentenced to a five-year jail term for graft before his acquittal by the Court of Appeal.
Answering questions on how to stop cases of governors looting state’s resources, Ngilari said the best way to deal with corruption is to investigate and prosecute culprits in order to serve as a deterrent to others.
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He said “Let me say this, when you are governor, you are kind of demi-god. All the local governments are under you. Everybody is at your beck and call. Is it the Accountant-General or the Commissioner of Finance or anybody else that you will say I want this done and he will not do?”.
“ If you want money generated, they will do it because they want to be where they are. So, it will not be difficult but you see, one of the ways to deal with corruption is to investigate and deal with it”.
“I don’t want to mention names but there are people who have very serious grievous allegations of corruption, who are either former governors or whatever. There are also other public officers who are walking the streets. When they can do that, what do you expect others who are coming after them to do?”.