Lalong Spent N3.3bn On ‘Fruitless’ Foreign Trips In One Year – Plateau PDP

Simon LalongA former Minister of Youth and Sports, Damishi Sango, yesterday accused Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, of draining the state’s purse by N3.300 billion under the guise of estacodes for 11 foreign trips he has embarked on since assuming office last year.

“Each of the trips have cost Plateau about N300 million, from our investigations. Calculate that by 11 trips; we are talking about a whooping sum of N3.300 billion spent on travelling around the world in desperate search for investors, with no impact”, said Sango, who is Chairman of the Plateau State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

He also accused the Lalong administration of diverting funds meant for local governments, although he did not state figures, insisting that the PDP will publish those figures when the government denies the allegations.

In his reaction, Governor Lalong accused the PDP of peddling falsehood.

Speaking through his media aide, Emmanuel Nanle, the governor denied that he is corrupt, and challenged the PDP to come up with records showing that the sum of N3.3 billion has been expended on foreign trips, or that local government funds have been diverted.