Nigeria’s Governors Forum spits fire over freezing of Benue State account

Chairman of the Governors Forum and Governor of Zamfara State, Abdul’aziz Yari, has condemned the freezing of Benue State accounts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), describing it as “unconstitutional”.

Governor Yari who spoke in his capacity as the Chairman of Governor’s Forum, disclosed this on Wednesday after a closed-door meeting with the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja.

He said the move by the EFCC was wrong, adding that Benue state has suffered a backdrop of security challenges which has claimed the lives of many.

He called on the federal government to address the situation urgently.

Similarly, the Senator representing Kaduna Central at the National Assembly, Senator Shehu Sani, said, freezing Benue accounts would hamper the business of governance.

Sani took to his Facebook page Wednesday evening to condemn the act by the anti graft agency.

He said, “no state government account should be frozen.The focus should only be corrupt culprits, if at all there is any.

“Collective punishment stalls government and governance.There is no potent weapon to fight corruption than the rule of law”.

The EFCC had on Tuesday frozen three bank accounts belonging to Benue State government pending investigation into alleged abuse of Benue State’s security funds.

Benue state government had reacted through the media aide to Governor Samuel Ortom, describing the action of the anti-graft agency as a “political witch-hunt”.