Former Kwara State Commissioner for Special Duties, Aisha Ahman-Pategi has made what appears to be a 180 degree u-turn regarding allegations of misappropriation of local government funds.
Ahman-Pategi, who resigned from the cabinet of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on curious grounds, had earlier declared, in the heat of accusations of mismanagement of local government funds, that all the LG funds were intact.
She granted a press conference to pass this comment in Ilorin, the state capital, and in fact accused bloggers of concocting the narratives that she alleged that local government funds to the tune of N300 million naira were misappropriated.
According to her, “I debunk claims about N300 million misappropriations of LGA funds. I never made a pronouncement like that nor did I ask anyone to write or say anything like that on my behalf. These are rumours which were formed by figment of bloggers’ imagination.
“I urge the general public to disregard the rumours of financial misappropriation of N300 million local government funds. The LGA funds are intact. All write-ups circulating online or in conventional media attributing such claims to me are lies orchestrated by naysayers that I call propagandists. Those peddling the fake stories should desist or be ready to face the full wrath of the law.”
In a dramatic turn that has kept social media users bemused however, Ms Pategi had told Kwara State government to free LGA money.
She was reacting to a tweet on local government autonomy by the official Twitter handle of the state government.
She wrote that the claim that local government areas are autonomous is not true, adding that all LGA accounts from May 29 should be published.
Social media users have continued to demand the ex-commisioner to explain her comment further, which she declined.
In another comment monitored by our correspondent however, Ahman-Pategi said she was not referring to the N300 million.
“300 mill (sic) was never stated by me my dear… go check the records n do ur investigation. Let’s stop diverting from what the actual issues are and focus on. The future of Kwara. #freekwaraLGAmoney,” she stated.
“Why #freekwaraLGAmoney then, Hajia?” a social media user queried her.
