By Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
The 52-Youth Coalition in Kwara State has thrown its weight behind the decision by the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate within the 2027 election, Prof. Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia, for an impartial audit of the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP).
This, the coalition stated, would go a good distance in offering full particulars of the daily monetary operations of the company.
The group, in a press release issued on Monday and made obtainable to journalists in Ilorin, signed by the Director of Contact and Mobilisation of the coalition, Comrade Yusuf Eniola Obe, defined that, “the coalition totally supported the demand for a complete and clear account of each naira allotted to and expended by the company since its inception.
“And the full details of the financial operations must include annual appropriations, actual fund releases, expenditure records, administrative costs, and outstanding balances”.
According to the coalition, “We commend the NDC candidate for elevating these issues and add our voice unreservedly to his name.
“Public funds channelled by the Kwara State Social Investment Programme belong to the individuals of Kwara State.
“Every kobo of those funds must be accounted for, openly, honestly, and without the evasion and opacity that has characterised this agency’s operations from the beginning”.
The coalition added, “the call for accountability coming from the NDC governorship candidate shows that Kwarans, across every political divide, are concerned about the opaque nature of KWASSIP operations and are interested in knowing how their collective resources are being spent”.
They described the extent of alleged opacity surrounding KWASSIP as troubling, alleging that when the company’s Director General, Dr. Abdulwasiu Tejidini, was requested to account for the whole funds acquired by the company, he was unable to reply.
The group famous, “That the Director General of a public company can’t account for the funds his company has acquired shouldn’t be merely embarrassing, it’s alarming.
“A Director General who doesn’t know the way a lot cash his company has acquired has both been intentionally saved at nighttime or is intentionally maintaining the general public at nighttime.
“The scenario is unacceptable and demands investigation. This is more reason the agency must be audited”.
The coalition condemned allegations that the programme had been used to make substantial funds exterior established utility and beneficiary choice processes, with some quantities reportedly falling exterior the programme’s recognised profit classes — a growth the group described as a brazen misuse of public funds for political functions.
“What is being described is not a social investment programme. It is a political slush fund, a mechanism for settling political obligations, rewarding loyalists, and inducing voters ahead of the 2027 general elections with money that belongs to the most vulnerable Kwarans the programme was supposedly designed to serve. This is a betrayal of public trust of the most cynical and contemptible kind,” the assertion alleged.
The coalition issued a stern warning to officers of the company and all these concerned within the alleged misappropriation of KWASSIP funds, reminding them that the period of unaccountability in Kwara State is drawing to an in depth.
“We need to ship a transparent and unambiguous message to each official at KWASSIP and each political actor who has used this programme as a private political instrument:
“The PDP if its shaped the following authorities in Kwara State, and when it does, there shall be a full and thorough accountability train.
“Every naira that cannot be accounted for, every payment made outside due process, and every political obligation settled with public funds will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Prepare your records. You will need them,” the coalition warned.
The group subsequently referred to as on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and different related anti-corruption companies to take instant be aware of the allegations surrounding KWASSIP operations and begin preliminary investigations.
