A group, the Divine Mandate Campaign Organisation, has asked Ebonyi State Governor, Martin Elechi, to make the statement of accounts of the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme known to the public.

The group alleged that about N1.1bn of the account was mismanaged.

DMCO, which is the campaign organisation of the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in the state, Dave Umahi, made this allegation in a statement   by its Director of Media and Publicity, Abia Onyike.

It said, “We wish to appeal to the state government to take the bull by the horns by publishing the statement of accounts in the face of the raging allegation of illegally directing the release of the sum of N1.1bn from the coffers of SURE-P and pension funds, out of which between N58m and N68m was paid into the private accounts of some officials for the funding of a political party and for personal uses.”

“It is no longer news that Governor Elechi’s eight-year rule has been characterised by several constitutional breaches, some of which include   illegal appointment of 28 development centre coordinators late last year; appointment of 13 local government caretaker committee chairmen; appointment of service commissions without reference to the State House of Assembly and refusal to account to the House of Assembly the N16.5bn bond obtained from the capital market in 2010.”

The statement then assured Ebonyi people of a new lease of life if Umahi was voted into power on April 11.

Source: PUNCH