SaharaReporters reports that the Ibaji Progressive Youth Foundation, a group in the Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi State, has actually asked council Chairman to account for the countless naira monthly allotment of the LGA from 2015 till date.
In a Freedom of Information (FoI) request signed by the group’s National President, Apeh Kelvin Abuchi and Secretary, Egwu Sule Linus, the council boss was also asked to offer a fancy breakdown of the expenditure.
The letter, gotten by SaharaReporters, reads, <em>”We write as an organisation that promotes for the rights of Ibaji people, kogi state and Nigeria in general. By virtue of the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, we thus request that you offer us with the following details: An in-depth and as much as date record of Federal allotments received by the Ibaji Local Government Area Council from 2015 to date;</em>
<em>”A fancy breakdown of the expense and usage of the Federal allowances received by the Ibaji Local Government Area Council from 2015 to date.</em>
<em>”We understand that under the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, we are entitled to a reaction within 7 (7) working days of your receipt of this demand and we anticipate receiving the info requested within the permitted timeframe.</em>
<em>”In repercussion thereof, we humbly ask for that the info be delivered to [email secured] in Microsoft Excel format. We are willing to pay the charges as evaluated, which are sustained as a result of complying with this demand, but we wish to repeat, as clearly specified under Section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, that, fees “… will be restricted to standard charges for file duplication and Fees transcription where required.”</em>
<em>”If upon review of our request, the choice is required to transfer the request to another public organization, we request that you provide us with a written notice of this reality in the way as provided under the Act and within the stipulated timeframe.</em>
<em>”If our request is denied in whole or in part we request that you validate such rejection by reference to particular exemptions under the Act. It is instructional to note that we schedule the right to appeal your decision as guaranteed by the Act and we wish to state in clear terms that any demand not sanctioned within the recommended timeframe will be deemed as a rejection of the demand and any wrongful denial of demand makes the defaulting officer and/or institution liable to a fine of N500,000 just.”</em>
Meanwhile, the Ibaji association found out that the regional council had actually directed all its workers to relocate from the Ibaji liaison workplace in Idah to the Ibaji Local Government Area as from Friday, January 14.
The Ibaji youths who remain in a pending lawsuit against the council chairman firmly insisted that the court case would go on despite the relocation with the next adjourned date being February 28, 2022.