A fresh scandal has erupted in Adamawa State after revelations that the wives of the 21 local government chairmen were flown to Istanbul, Turkey for a so-called leadership training, despite no budgetary allocation for such expenditure.
SaharaReporters learnt that the lavish trip of the chairmen’s wives was reportedly bankrolled by the local government finances under the umbrella of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON).
The trip has now triggered outrage among citizens, activists, and legal practitioners who described it as another shameless case of “public funds squandered on foreign jamborees.”
ALGON’s state chairman, Suleiman Gangkuba, defended the move, insisting that the wives of chairmen needed leadership training to support their husbands.
According to him, the chairmen themselves had gone for a similar foreign programme just two months earlier. “It is necessary for efficient local administration,” Gangkuba maintained.
But governance activists and opposition voices argue otherwise. They say the trip not only lacks constitutional basis — since the wives of chairmen hold no recognised office in law — but also represents a direct looting of council treasuries at a time when most local governments can barely pay salaries, pensions, or fund basic projects.
A Yola-based legal practitioner and good governance advocate, Barrister Pwamaddi Shagnar, condemned the Istanbul trip as “a brazen squandering of taxpayers’ money.”
He demanded full disclosure from ALGON on the cost of the trip and the precise budget line from which it was funded.
“There is no appropriation for this kind of waste. The EFCC and other anti-graft bodies must wade in immediately and open a thorough investigation,” Shagnar told SaharaReporters.
He further accused the state governors of continuing to arm-twist local governments, despite a Supreme Court judgment in July 2024 that granted financial and administrative autonomy to councils.
According to him, governors in Nigeria still seize control of local funds through monthly Joint Account meetings run by the Ministry of Local Government — a system critics describe as unconstitutional.
“Instead of using autonomy to serve the grassroots, what we are seeing is a new pattern of reckless spending — jamborees in the name of training, junkets around the world, and no accountability,” Shagnar added.
Observers note that this scandal fits a wider pattern of wasteful foreign trips by Nigerian officials. Recent investigations revealed that governors across the federation have burned through billions of naira on foreign travel under the guise of investment missions and leadership retreats, with little to show for it.
The Istanbul trip, activists warn, may be the most brazen local government example yet.
Efforts by SaharaReporters to obtain clarification from Gangkuba on the total cost of the junket proved abortive.
He neither responded to calls nor replied to WhatsApp messages as of press time.
Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on anti-graft agencies to act swiftly.
Civil society groups in Yola say they would petition the EFCC and ICPC to investigate how the wives of council chairmen were flown abroad without appropriation, and whether public funds were diverted in violation of procurement laws.
For many critics, the Istanbul junket has now become a litmus test for the enforcement of local government autonomy.
If council funds can still be hijacked for unauthorised trips abroad, then the promise of grassroots self-governance remains hollow.
