Commissioners serving under Governor Ifeanyi Okowa's administration have accused the governor of corruption and fraudulent practices over what they called an “over-bloated” N250 million contract approval limit for himself and N200,000 for commissioners.
The commissioners also denounced the way the approval limit was solely carried out by the governor without the approval of the Executive Council (EXCO).
Speaking to SaharaReporters in confidence at the commissioners' quarters, an aggrieved commissioner who pleaded for anonymity expressed bitterness toward the action of the governor, adding that it was done "to amass wealth for himself to the detriment of the people."
According to the commissioner, until now the expenditure approval limit for contracts for past governors James Ibori and Emmanuel Uduaghan was N50 million while the commissioners' approval limit for a contract was N1 million.
"We are dying in silence, I must confess. None of us in the cabinet are happy over the development. So many of us are not happy with the system because it encourages corruption and the amassing of public funds by one man and his cronies. Just meet some of my colleagues, they will open up to you so long as you do not mention their names," the commissioner stated.
Also confiding in SaharaReporters, another aggrieved commissioner condemned in strong terms the governor's action.
"At least some of us were close to past administrations in the State and we know how things were done as far as contracts and approval limits were concerned. As soon as the governor assumed office, the first thing he did was protect his interests and that of his cronies by jacking up his approval limits for contracts to N250 million from N50 million.
"The governor's predecessors, James Onanefe Ibori and Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, throughout their administrations had their approval limit set at N50 million while the commissioners' was N1 million. The purpose of this was to curb corruption, financial recklessness and the amassing of wealth fraudulently among officials and to encourage discipline and accountability in the disbursement.
"Deltans may not really understand the implications of what the governor has done but the truth of the matter is that it will give the governor express permission to solely approve and pay for contracts without anyone, not even the State’s Executive Council to question him. Any contract that is N250 million or below will not be brought to the EXCO for approvals.
"It also means that the governor will solely spend over 80 percent of the State’s budget without any recourse to the State Executive Council since the State cannot execute any multi-billion naira projects following the current financial situation of the nation. The whole idea, if you ask me, is to totally shut out the EXCO while the contracts are solely run by the man at the helm of affairs. The governor has the knife and the yam, he decides who and where to cut out for those in his good book," the angry commissioner stated.
Speaking with SaharaReporters in confidence shortly after the May Day celebrations in Asaba, another said the high approval limit is a way for the governor to enrich himself and his cabal of cronies.
"Immediately after the governor put this policy in place, he solely approved without EXCO a contract of N177 million for the supply of vehicles for top government officials. He also approved another N127 million contract to supply vehicles for himself, N132 million for two Lexus 570 bulletproof vehicles for the Deputy Governor, N226 million for purchase of vehicles for commissioners, N140 million for furnishing of offices for DTHA members, N208 million for health projects in Abavo, Agbor and so many others singlehandedly approved by the governor.
"This is nothing but obvious corruption and it might interest you to know too that all the supplies were made in cash through the Government House and these contracts were given to family members, fronts and cronies and his cabal members in government. Even his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, got a 2015 Toyota Camry which cost the state government over N10 million.
"The way it is now, I can tell you that apart from the governor, the Commissioner for Finance, his counterpart in Economic Planning, and the Accountant-General are the only people that will be put in the know as far as the approvals are concerned, while the EXCO members are totally shut out. The governor never wanted every file to go to the EXCO because every commissioner has access to files of a particular project that is being proposed.
"But if it goes to EXCO, it means it is a single file, and so it moves from the ministry straight to the governor, to the Commissioner for Economic Planning, then back to governor and Commissioner for Finance for release of funds. So, you can see that with this arrangement, it is only the governor, Economic and Finance commissioners and the Accountant-General who run the State," the commissioner disclosed.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, a director in the Ministry of Finance confirmed the development about the approvals limit, adding that the governor’s bloated approval limit is nothing but a conduit that allows the governor and his cronies to loot the State treasury.
"All relevant persons who are EXCO members are shut out totally, making the EXCO a mere formality. As we speak, some commissioners, heads of parastatals and boards are aggrieved as a result of the governor's new design,” the director stated.
A Senior Special Assistant to Mr. Okowa who pleaded for anonymity told SaharaReporters that the governor was running the State with his family members and cronies as a personal estate without regard for anybody.
"Some of us aides to the governor are redundant. So many of us are not doing anything, we only receive our salaries. Even in most cases so many of us don't come to work because we don't have offices and once the month ends we receive our salaries and we disappear again," the SSA said.
At the time of reporting, attempts to speak with the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, and the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, were not successful, as calls and messages to their mobile lines were rebuffed.