A concerned stakeholder in Aninri Local Government Area of Enugu State, Prince Cajetan Ogbonna has demanded that the chairman of the local government area, Hon. Ugochukwu Nwanjoku should account for the funds amounting to over one billion Naira.
Ogbonna said this included statutory allocation, as well as N800 million borrowed from a commercial bank, without any tangible project to show for it.
In an article he wrote, titled: ‘Where is Aninri funds: Citizen asks council chairman, Nwanjoku’, he said time had come for the council chairman to explain to the people what he had done with the funds entrusted to his care.
According to him, rather than channel resources to the development of the council, Njoku had allegedly focused on his private interests.
He accused Nwanjoku of using the council funds to build a personal empire to the detriment of the common good of the people, and then demanded that the chairman should come clean and explain to the people of the area what he had done with their money.
He listed major areas of concern to include: no commissioned project throughout his administration; demolished 5 buildings within the Secretariat and is constructing one; Running a government of himself and family alone; took a loan to build his personal house at Oduma; Owing councillors their allowances, including wardrobe and sitting allowances, among others.
According to him, “Hon. Nwanjoku is accused of building a personal housing estate on the finances that accrued to the local government. He is said to have completed his estate but neglected to complete government projects. And what is more, the chairman was accused of having acquired so much within one year without anything tangible to show, yet the council continues to receive Federal Allocations as well as the Internally Generated Revenue, IGR.
“Nwanjoku never had any tangible business, was not known among the rich in the local government but has become stupendously rich within one year in office and wondered how?
“Today, more than one year into the tenure of Hon. Ugochukwu Nwanjoku, the question is simple, lawful, and unavoidable: Where are our monthly allocations?
“From Poverty to Power, and Suddenly to Prosperity – Let us begin with a truth that the people of Aninri know too well.
“Before becoming Chairman, Hon. Ugochukwu Nwanjoku was not a wealthy man. He was not known for large businesses. He did not own estates. He was not counted among the financially established men of the local government.
“The people know this. The villages know it. The streets know it. Yet, within one year in office, a transformation has occurred that would embarrass even the most aggressive private entrepreneur.
“Is this the miracle of public service? Or the mathematics of public funds?
“The only project started and completed within one year is not a public school, not a health centre, not a road, not a market. It is the Chairman’s alleged private estate in Oduma. And what an estate it is.
“Situated on a vast expanse of land, land that reportedly swallowed and demolished an existing private school, the property stands like a monument, not to service, but to sudden wealth.
“Within its high walls are: Multiple modern residential structures; Luxury interior finishing of premium quality; A fully built swimming pool; Extensive landscaping Interlocked and well-paved access roads leading exclusively to the compound; Security architecture befitting a government facility; The estimated value? Not less than N600 million.
“Mr. Chairman, how does a man who was not wealthy build a N600 million estate within one year of public office? Is this salary? Is this personal business profit? Or is Aninri’s allocation building private comfort?
“The Oduma estate is only the beginning. It is widely alleged that an apartment in a prime area of Enugu is nearing completion. A house in the United States has been acquired through a relative. The Chairman now maintains a fleet of vehicles. Cars have reportedly been given out as gifts to relatives.
“What legitimate income produced this level of acquisition within one year of local government service? The public office is not a lottery ticket. It is a trust.”
He went further to accuse the chairman of borrowing eight hundred million Naira (N800, 000,000), which can not be accounted for, from a commercial bank in the name of Aninri Local Government.
According to him, “This raises grave questions: What projects were executed with this money? Where are the physical results? Which roads? Which schools? Which health centres? Which economic interventions?
“If N800 million entered Aninri’s books, why has Aninri not seen N800 million on the ground? Debt without development is not governance. It is a burden transferred to the people.”
Nwanjoku was also accused of destroying what he met on the ground without embarking on new ones.
“After more than a year in office: No major public project has been completed. Legislative and administrative buildings were demolished, and more other three, yet replacements remain uncompleted.
“The Ohofia Oduma-Ndeaboh road was flagged off with fanfare and abandoned. While Awgu Local Government completed its section of the Awgu–Ndeaboh failed road months ago, Aninri’s portion remains largely scraped and sand-filled, a cosmetic effort on a structural failure. The contrast is painful. The silence on results is louder still.
“For months, the Chairman and his media aides claimed that the governor was interfering with Aninri’s allocation. At a stakeholders’ meeting, His Excellency publicly stated that he does not touch Aninri funds. If the governor is not taking the money, then who is?
“And if there are claims of monthly “settlements” to unnamed powerful persons: Who are they? How much is paid? Under what authority? Or are these claims another layer of narrative to hide financial opacity?
“Let it be stated clearly: This article does not glorify the past political order. The old system was rejected for a reason. But a revolution that replaces external control with internal looting is not reform.
“It is betrayal. The Integrity Movement promised: No godfather control. No diversion. No private empires. Yet today, the optics suggest public funds in private assets.
“It’s still fresh in our memory how he made 10 appointments and 8 were his brothers and sisters before the intervention of the Enugu State government, who later appointed Secretary and then did the same to all the Local government areas in the state.
“It’s pertinent to state that the chairman is owing some councillors wardrobe allowance to includes, Ndiagbo ward, Nnenwe ward 1 and 2 and Oduma ward 1. All entitlement of budget passing has not been paid to councillors.
“The question which the chairman will answer Aninri people is – Mr. Chairman: Where is our monthly allocation? Where is the impact of N800 million? Why is your estate completed while government projects are abandoned? How did your wealth multiply faster than your achievements?
“Remember: Power passes. Questions remain. History is written without fear. This is Part One. The people of Aninri are watching. The law of public trust does not sleep.
“Should these questions not answered, and quickly too, we shall go to the appropriate authorities in the next couple of days. This demand for accountability will never be compromised,” Ogbonna demanded.
Efforts made to obtain reactions from the embattled chairman were not successful as of the time of filing this report.
