The People Advocacy for Transparency and Accountability (PATAI) and Al-Mushaid Initiative for Transparency and Accountability (AITA) have threatened to report the leadership of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for alleged mismanagement of N146.19 billion budget.
Speaking at a joint news conference in Abuja yesterday, the executive chairman of PATAI, Mr. Francis Bassey, and the president of AITA, Mr. Aminu Majidadi, gave the agency up to March 15 to respond to the allegations.
The groups said the commission had refused to respond to the petition earlier sent to it by some patriotic Nigerians.
Bassey said the groups also sent three reminders to the commission dated January 18 and 31, as well as February 14, 2023, without response.
He said allegations bordered on corruption, financial misappropriation and abuse of office.
He claimed that the N146.19 billion was the budgetary allocation to the commission.
The PATAI chief said money was paid in full for projects not completed or even abandoned.
“The abandoned projects include construction of central workshop in Maiduguri, Borno; construction of Birma Primary School at Kashimbila in Taraba; Madagali and Pinlla primary schools projects in Adamawa.
“Others are supply of equipment at Eye Clinic Centre in Azare; construction of ICT training centre; construction of College of Legal and Islamic Studies, Misau, all in Bauchi state,” he said.
Bassey listed other abandoned projects to include the mass housing project in Dadin Kowa, Gombe State, 200 mass housing units in Nguru as well as a 300 mass housing project in Damatutru, both in Yobe.
He claimed that there were also abandoned projects in Jalingo, Sadauna, Zing and Ussa local government areas of Taraba, among others.
He said PATAI and AITA conducted thorough investigation of the claims in the petitions and were awaiting NEDC’s response.
Bassey said their concern was to ensure accountability in the handling of public funds so that it would benefit Nigerians.
“It is on the account of promoting transparency and accountability by holding those in authority accountable that we gave the Commission a chance to respond to issues of grave allegations raised against them.
“We also wrote several memos to the Commission to address the issues raised in the petitions against them. It is sad to note that they have not responded positively to our enquiries till date,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for NEDC, Mr. Abba Musa, declined comment on the matter saying he was not authorised to speak.
NAN quoted Musa as saying that only the managing director of the commission, Mr. Mohammed Alkali, has the mandate to speak on the matter.
