Some high-ranking officials at the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Secretariat in Abuja are facing accusations of financial misconduct and irresponsibility.
The Director of Media and Public Affairs for NGF, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, brought these concerns to light in a leaked letter directed to NGF Chairman and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq.
In the leaked correspondence, Barkindo contends that the NGF has shifted its focus from developmental pursuits to transactional activities. He asserts that rather than serving as an agent of positive change, the forum has become a channel for a select few individuals.
Bello-Barkindo calls for a comprehensive forensic audit of all NGF accounts, including those established during times of crisis to prevent undue interference by governors under the guise of NIGOFO, among other concerns.
According to Barkindo, the NGF accounts have not undergone an audit in over a decade, emphasizing that certain individuals have treated the forum and its financial resources as their personal domain. In a portion of the letter, he states, “The secretariat’s accounts have not been audited in the last decade, to say the least, and even the purported auditors have confessed that the job they are doing for the secretariat is a sham.”
He further raises questions about the absence of qualified accountants in an institution responsible for handling substantial financial transactions like the Paris-London refunds. Despite an annual income exceeding three billion Naira, the total yearly earnings of the entire staff amount to seventy million Naira. Bello-Barkindo highlights instances, such as the contentious N630 million deductions from the N5 billion infrastructure support fund, alleging it as a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of NGF Chairman AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq.
Bello-Barkindo concludes with a call for a forensic audit, stating, “In my opinion, the NGF requires a forensic audit of all its accounts, including those that were opened during crisis periods to avoid the prying eyes of governors in the name of NIGOFO, among others.”
