Ebonyi Assembly Freezes State, Local Govt Joint Account

The lawmakers also raised the alarm over the level of fraud and financial misappropriation going on in the local government system and the unchecked expenditure of funds by the state government to any party of their choice without any due process.

To this end, the assembly resolved that any bank collaborating with the state government to divert funds meant for the development of the state would be blacklisted from carrying out any transaction with the incoming administration as the affected banks would be meant to face the wrath of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The lawmakers also during the plenary, charged all Heads of Personnel Management (HPM), Treasurer, Deputy Personnel Management (DPM), Account Officers (AO) and cashiers of various local government areas to submit details of its account to the Clerk of the assembly for further investigation.

They further  threatened to dismiss any staff of the local government area that failed to work in tandem with the resolution of the assembly.

In the same vein, the assembly further went ahead to stop the state government from selling forms and allocating shops to the people of the state at the Ebonyi State International Market when the project has not been fully completed and inauguration for use.

According to the assembly, the state government’s sales of forms within the range of 100,000 and 500,000 to the citizens of the state were unacceptable even as it described it as a process put in place to defraud the people of the state.