Reps discover fake LG in Oyo - N4.7bn project allocated to it
Bola Badmus, Abuja
Wednesday, November 26, 2008


THE House of Representatives Committee on Youth Development was shocked on Tuesday when it discovered a mystery local government area in Oyo State.


The mystery local government also has a project listed from the N4.7billion capital vote of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development in the 2008 Budget.

The name of the local government area was given as Respat and the project listed against it is one of the eight prototype youth centres located across the country.

Chairman of the committee, Honourable Depo Oyedokun, who is from Oyo State, was alarmed to discover that a council area in the state goes by that name.

He said he was aware that the state had two youth centres but did not know about the one referred to in the 2008 budget of the ministry.

Minister of Youth Development, Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi, who appeared at the interactive session with the committee to present the 2008 budget performance, claimed that he did not know which local government area bore the name, though he was familiar with the state.

Oyedokun said “by the grace of God, I am from Oyo State. There is no where that bears that name. There is no local government area in Oyo State that is called Respat.”

The minister, in his response, told members of the committee that that was what the budget contained, adding: “That is what was listed in the budget.”


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/nov/26/604.html

I am confused. How possible can this be?. Nigeria is a land of wonders.

Is that possible for the govt to find the culprits and prosecute them.

Oyo wants probe of 'fake council'
From Iyabo Lawal, Ibadan

THE OYO State government yesterday called for a panel of enquiry to probe the allegation of N4.7 billion allocated to a non-existent local council in the state by the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports in its 2008 budget.




The state's Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Hosea Agboola, who made the call following the House of Representatives' discovery of such local council in the state, demanded for an immediate investigation to ensure proper accountability.

The House of Representatives Committee on Youth Development, led by Depo Oyedokun, had on Tuesday discovered a mystery local council area with a project listed from the N4.7 billion capital vote of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development in the 2008 budget.

The name of the local council area was given as Respat and the project listed against it is one of the eight prototype youth centres located across the country.

Oyedokun, the lawmaker from Oyo State at the House of Representatives, had insisted that he was not aware of the youth centre referred to in the 2008 budget, though he confirmed that there were two youth centres in the state.

But Agboola, who said such a council could only exist somewhere in the eastern part of the country and not in Oyo, urged the ministry involved to investigate the matter in the interest of proper accountability.

He said: "We do not have such local council in this state. May be it was created by the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports. It might be an omission on the part of the ministry because we do not have such council in the state. We did not also benefit from any project N4.7 billion from the ministry this year. We, therefore, demand a further investigation of the alleged fund allocation."


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/nov/27/17.html