BY CHIDI NKWOPARA
OWERRI—The non-remittance of N234  million, which the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development deducted from the 27 local government councils for services rendered by Imo Broadcasting Corporation, IBC, has started fueling fears that “the huge fund may have disappeared in transit”

The current fear over the money may not be unconnected with the findings contained in a two-part report of the Chinedu Offor-led seven-man Technical Committee set up by the state government, vide GH/COS/S.003/XIV/32 of October 19, 2012, and GH/COS/S.013/1/20 of October 29, 2012.
The signatories to the document, included former commissioner for information and strategy, Mr. Chinedu Offor, Commissioner for Finance, Deacon John Chike Okafor, Commissioner for Local Government and Rural Development, Chief Gerry Okoli, the Accountant-General, Mr. George Eche, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Mrs. L.N. Asuzu, former Director-General of IBC, Mr. Alex Nwahiri and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr. Goddy O. Dike, who equally doubled as Secretary.
The shocking discovery was in tandem with the Committee’s first term of reference, which is “to determine the reason(s) for the non-payment of monthly pension to IBC pensioners from 2010 to September 2012.”

On page six of the largely ignored report, the Committee recommended that the “Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development should be directed to release the outstanding sum of N243 million or N110,727,079 per-commercialisation or N13.5 million commercialisation in its coffers, being the publicity packages/services rendered by the corporation to the 27 local government councils in the state since June to December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010.”

Vanguard can exclusively report that this staggering figure has since multiplied, especially as the monthly deductions continued, while no single kobo has been received by IBC management from the Ministry.