Abdulaziz Yari, chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), says the
freezing of state government accounts is unconstitutional and wrong.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Zamfara governor described such action by
anti-corruption agencies as shutting down of government.
He reacted to the freezing of bank accounts belonging to Benue state by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged abuse of
the state security funds.
Less than 24 hours after, the EFCC also froze the accounts of Akwa Ibom
state.
Yari said a state like Benue facing insecurity might not be able to live
up to expectations.
“The freezing of any account of the state government whether Benue or
anywhere is unconstitutional and is not right,” he said.
“That is shutting down government. Government must spend, most especially
Benue that is facing insecurity challenges.
“Well, we don’t know why the EFCC took the action. But if indeed EFFC
froze the account, from my point of view, it is wrong.
“This government will not sit down and oversee unlawful operation from the
security agencies. From what happened yesterday, everyone can understand
that government is following due process and the laws of Nigeria. For one
to just send security agencies to shut down the national assembly, and the
action that followed, that is what gave credit to this government by local
and international community.
“Similar thing had happened in 2011 and 2014 respectively, but nothing was
done about it. This time around, government said enough is enough. But the
government of Muhammadu Buhari is following due process and will never
oversee an unlawful activity by any security agency. So in the case of
Benue, I believe something must be done.”