I’ve not touched LG funds since I became governor — Mutfwang

Gov. Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau says he has not touched or misused local government funds since he became the governor of the state.

Mutfwang said this on Monday in Jos at the swearing-in of the newly appointed chairman and members of the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC).

The governor, a former chairman of Mangu Local Government, said he believed that the funds meant for local government councils should be used by that tier of government.

“It therefore pains some of us when they make generalisations that governors are stealing local government money.

“I think they should be specific rather than make generalization. Let me say that I am a firm believer in the effectiveness and efficacy of the local government system. I believe that government must come closer to the people.

“The only way we can get government and governance closer to the people is to allow the people themselves to elect those who they want to lead them,” he said.

Mutfwang said that the appointees were carefully selected to lead the commission and bring integrity to the organisation.

“It is unfortunate that when we came on board, we had to dissolve PLASIEC, and we did that based on sound legal truth.

“PLASIEC, as it was then, was improperly constituted by an illegal Speaker (of House of Assembly) and there was a court judgment to that effect.

“The speaker who confirmed their appointments was set aside by the court, so every action he took was against the law“, he said.

According to him, he believes that the people deserve to choose who will work for them, and that must be guaranteed.

He told members of PLASIEC that they were coming in at a time when the commission had a trust challenge.

He said that the people no longer believed that a state electoral commission should exist with even some people calling for it to be scrapped.

“I certainly don’t agree with that because we’re operating a federal system; ours is a federation, not a unitary government.

“If people are worried about allowing the local government system to work, they should also allow the state governments to function“, he said.

The new PLASIEC Chairman, Mr Plangji Chishak, thanked Mutfwang for the opportunity to serve the Plateau people.

Chishak, who until his appointment was a staff member of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), assured the people of a credible and transparent election that would be acceptable to all.