By Henry Ibya, Makurdi
Special Adviser to the governor of Benue State on Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, BLGCA, Dr. Denis Akura, has described as fictitious, baseless and misleading, allegations of N20 billion fraud leveled against the bureau under his watch from a section of the media by a group known as Global Integrity Crusade Network, GICN.
Akura who made the clarification while reacting to the allegations during a media briefing in Makurdi, argued that Governor Hyacinth Alia, did not at any time direct him as special adviser on BLGCA or any other person to monitor diversion of N20 billion from the federal allocation account, which aggregated to local governments in the state within the period under review as alleged by the group, describing the allegations as baseless.
The special adviser also told journalists that the GICN got it completely wrong when they alleged in their petition that he syphoned the said amount between June to October 2023, clarifying that he was not at the helm of affairs at the bureau.
Dr. Akura further recalled that on assumption of office he made it clear to all staff at the Bureau that he was directed by the governor to strictly adhere to a workable administrative framework designed to restructure the third tier with the aim of returning the lost glory of the local government system, pointing out that the Bureau under his watch has not deviated from the directive as it no longer controls the federal allocation or funds of the local government areas as part of the reforms.
He said within his short tenure as special adviser, a quasi financial autonomy has been granted to the third tier of government, where the aggregated federal allocation goes directly to each and every local government areas account.