Anambra finance commissioner alleges threat to life

11.02.2008

The Commissioner for Finance in Anambra State, Mr. Eze Echesi, has alleged threats to his life by politicians for “trying to increase the internally-generated revenue of the state’’.

Speaking at NUJ forum in Awka on Friday, Echesi said numerous politicians and individuals had paid him visits in his office to warn him not to make internally-generated revenue from parks and markets in the state, an affair of government.

He said they told him point blank that he should leave it to them as it was in the past and that he should concern himself with the Federation allocation which was for the state government.

To drive home their point, he said, some of them even banged their hands on his desk as a final note of warning that if he dared to continue, he should wait for the consequence.

“Of course, I just shrugged my shoulders and ignored them because I know I am doing the right thing”. he said.

The commissioner explained that their reaction was because internally-generated revenue windows had in the past been administered by previous administrations as positions for political patronage and compensation.

He said this informed the reason why “innovations introduced to stop the anomaly is being stoutly resisted with several threats to my life”. The commissioner, apparently not deterred by the threats, said all process for internally-generated revenue in the state would be automated to forestall diversion of revenue accruable to government to private pockets.