Stemming the Revenue and White Collar crime in Abia State...

Internally generated revenue is as old as government in Nigeria. Even before the coming of the Whiteman, villages and communities had ways and means through which funds were generated for public good. Before the money economy, many traditional leaders and heads in the villages harnessed efforts and labour from the entire community to accomplish tasks. It is of note that the sophisticated governance of today evolved from rural experience. Like late Dr Onwuhara prognosticated 'there is hardly a new road that doesn't run into an old one.' There is no doubt that the framework for governance has to be oiled in form of taxes, rates, levies and the issuance of licenses to operators of businesses like on and off licenses for liquor and all.

These are all applicable today and vested with the three tiers of government making some exclusive for the federal and state governments. The colonial government made good use of these and left a near-perfect framework that was fraud-free. The internal audits and auditors of local governments, ministries, parastatals, even with the recent nomenclature as MDAs are trained in fraud detection. The Checkers in the accounts are implanted to nip fraud in the bud, but these high scale frauds curiously filter through their fingers. The above agencies used the colonial template efficiently. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever and consequently, loopholes within this age long operation has been discovered and thus, this near-perfect accounting checks and balance system has been rapaciously and lopsidedly tipped, becoming a victim of collaborative fraud by an unholy cartel within the accounting cadres. It may be nothing new and may not be peculiar to Abia State alone as the newspapers have been awash with shocking unearthing of criminal maneuvers in the Federal Civil Service payrolls and pension frauds exposed even in some police departments. The ghost worker incidence which hitherto occurred in tens has left the closet and now rage and range in hundreds, in some cases thousands. These trained and sworn gatekeepers and custodians know very well the implications of the hideous acts but greed has transformed them into treasury looters, depleting the barn they are sworn to protect. They are designs gone out of the manufacturer's specification, more like monsters and gizmos displacing the indispensable home appliances. In poetic rhyme and paradox, the keeper has transformed into a killer and the hunter ferociously hunted.

According to a Philippine proverb, 'Nothing destroys iron like its own rust.'

For this horrendous decay and rust in the Civil Service and LGA system, His Excellency Dr T A Orji, having in mind the proverbial saying that a scheduled war does not take the cripple by surprise has in a procedural manner and equally in categories and groups held consultations and meetings, warning all that are involved in the collaborative fraud that has resulted in the depletion of the tills they are supposed to protect to desist as it will not be business as usual anymore. Among these groups were commissioners, heads of service of the seventeen LGAs, Council chairmen, Local Government Service commissioners, Town planning officers, LGA treasurers and all. He must have had in mind Erich Fromm (1900 - 1980) German-born U.S. psychoanalyst and philosopher who once said 'Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.' He bemoaned the fact that Abia runs drastically short of IGRs where it is expected to generate two billon Naira, monthly. To make matters worse, the LGAs make secret of their IGR profile. It is a common sight to see toughies struggle with drivers and chase people about for one revenue or the other yet the result does not get to government coffers. For this moral decay and misappropriation of funds, he instructed that councils should disengage multiple revenue consultants as there will just be one for the state. For the first time there was a subtle threat that heads will roll if there is no change of attitude.

Of all the categories, the local government system seems to be deeply enmeshed. All efforts and reforms to raise the revenue profile have proved abortive. His Excellency Dr T A Orji is aware of this state of quandary after all, he has spent all his life working within the system. To heal this festering sore, he deployed one of the most experienced hands and a confidant, Engineer Emma Nwabuko to pull the chestnut out of the fire. Sir Emma, with enviable knowledge in computer engineering and its multiple applications, especially in fraud detection, introduced the data capture method which has proved successful in checking fraud and absenteeism in numerous places. He was dazzled beyond words. His experience is shocking and can frighten the broad daylight out of a Scotland Yard detective. There has been an embargo on employment, coupled with the restructuring and reengineer intended to breathe a new life to service in Abia and at the same time create employment opportunities while improving the wage bill digit. These turned out to be mirages. There are strong indications that names of bodiless persons were inflected into the payroll.

By the nature of the council, some designated staff who are engaged on fieldwork are exempted from the daily computer data capture. For samplers, field workers on revenue drive, surveyors and engineers on road maintenance and health workers who always engage in inoculation and immunization exercises and other public heath activities. Equally exempted are people on study leave. In a volte-face many names were posted to this cadre that are exempted from the data capture. When this was discovered and challenged, they turned to blackmail deceiving fellow staff with a false allegation that the Hon Commissioner was responsible for their delayed salaries while in truth they refused to adapt to the stipulations that a worker should have at least 50% attendance in a month to be qualified for remuneration. As if this was not enough, they mounted a shameless protest at the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. Is this not a case of the culprit chasing the policeman in broad day light?

From all the above, it is obvious that a closely knit cartel is throwing spanners at work making it look like treating a problem that needs antibiotic shots with paracetamol. For instance, why would there be a massive posting of workers from other departments to revenue department- one of the exempted groups from the data capture? Curious enough, a quarter of the council workers claim to be on study leave most of them without approval? This is a strong indication that highly placed officers are part of this indecorous cartel

The Governor as we know him is very patient, considerate, highly knowledgeable of the system. From experience, an insider can decipher codes, detect errors, pinpoint avoidable mistakes and in many cases uncover highly conceived plots and presumed perfected heists. Many may assume that his love for his constituency, the Civil Service may inhibit him from stepping on toes but not when it runs counter to the welfare of Abia citizenry and the arduous funding of massive transformation projects. This will certainly be a game changer if they heed his warnings and turn a new leaf, conversely heads will roll cataclysmic-ally.

Eddie Onuzuruike