Nigerian Concord Newspaper
Barring any last minute change, the Deputy Speaker of Benue State House of Assembly, Mrs Lami Danladi Ogenyi will be facing various anti graft agencies in Nigeria over her alleged involvement in the looting of revenues of Ado Local Government between December 2023 and October 2024.
Financial details obtained from the office of the Head of Department, Revenue in Ado Local Government, Mr. Usman Hamidu indicated that only N1.6million was remitted as revenue of the local government for two years because the Deputy Speaker mandated the two previous Caretaker chairmen, Charles Onazi Agbese and Gloria Enotse Ogebe to be paying half of all internally generated revenues to a private bank account suspected to be that of her husband, Mr. Sunday Oche Attah.
According to Benue Anti Corruption Watch in a press statement made available to journalists this morning over the development, it was the illegal cash deposits which were made to Lami Danladi husband’s bank account that dropped the revenue of the local government to just N1.6million for close to two years that both Agbese and Ogebe presided over the affairs of the local government as Caretaker chairmen.
In the press statement signed by Barrister Amos Onuh, Benue Anti Corruption Watch stated that it found out that the refusal of the incumbent chairman of the local government, Mr. Oche Sunday Oche to let the deputy speaker continue sharing from the local government revenues clearly explains how the local government was able to generate almost N7million within six months.
The anti graft group pressed further that for the periods which Mrs Danladi was sharing from the revenues of Ado Local Government with the duo of Agbese and Ogebe, the local government witnessed no physical development.
“We have concluded our investigations which we stared last year August, and there is nothing to show as development or government presence in Ado local government during the reigns of the last two caretaker chairmen because the revenues were being shared with them by the deputy speaker” the statement reads.
The group stated that it started its findings in the alleged corrupt acts since August last year as a result of outcries from members of staff of Ado local government.
The group however disclosed that it’s going to send the outcome of their independent investigation to various anti graft agencies so they too can begin their own comprehensive investigation into the alleged frauds of the deputy speaker during the reigns of the two previous chairmen of the local government.
Finally, Benue Anti Corruption Watch threatened to expose any politician, government agency or Arm that tries to carpet these allegations against the embattled deputy speaker.