Former Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State and his former Permanent
Secretary, Special Services, Abdu Ilelah, among others, should be made to
refund various sums of money said to have been spent on security and other
matters for which relevant certification are not available, an
investigative committee set up by the new government said Wednesday in a
statement.
The committee said the two are to refund N716, 892, 500, being the amount
claimed to have been spent on security in which all relevant certification
and acknowledgements are not available, while the former Bauchi State
Accountant General, Adamu Gokaru; a former Auditor General, Abdu Aliyu,
and a former permanent secretary, Special Duties, Abdu Ilelah, should be
sanctioned for gross misconduct.
These were the recommendation of the committee on the recovery of public
property taken without following due process under the chairmanship of
Ahmed Gamawa.
The committee was set up by Governor Mohammed Abdullahi to investigate the
activities of Bauchi State Agency for Orphans and Vulnerable Children,
BASOVCA, State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises and the State Ministry for Local Government and
Chieftaincy Affairs from May 2007 and May 2015.
According to the chairman, the committee discovered that due process was
not followed in the award of contracts at the State Universal Basic
Education Board where the sum of N110, 126, 373. 64 was released for the
payment of October, 2015 teachers’ salaries and the Board utilised only
the sum of N109, 351, 476.71 in paying 3,216 newly recruited teachers but
could not account for the balance of N774, 897.47.
The committee alleged that N858 million loan was fraudulently taken by
SUBEB from Sterling Bank Nigeria Plc to fund projects already
counter-funded by the State Government in 2012 while the contractor that
handled the contract of the E-Library project awarded by the SUBEB in the
Institute of Education, who was the Commissioner for Education, Aminu
Kangere had not executed the project fully.
“The contractor failed to supply and install the Integrated Science
Laboratory equipment for which he was paid the sum of N4million at the
same Institute,” the chairman said.
The committee also recommended that the Chief Accountant Local Education
Authority Accounts at the Board, Mohammad Alhaji, be made to account for
N774, 897, 47 being balance of N110, 126, 373.64 released to the Board for
the payment of October, 2015 salaries.
The committee also recommended that the sum of $475, 000 US Dollars (over
one hundred million Naira) be recovered from Global Mega Education and
Annabel Consultants being unjustified mortgage commitments in California
USA paid by the State Government, while EXTACO ALUMINIUM Nigeria Ltd was
received N20.4million as advance payment for the installation of Terrazo
in 29 blocks of 3 Classrooms, an Office and a store, but the contractor
paid the “sum of N15 million into the account of RAPS Reliable Ventures; a
company owned by Engineer Ibrahim M. Danfulani, the Chief Engineer of
SUBEB out of the said amount as bribe”.
Other findings of the committee include the payment of NATA/Supervision
allowances to tune the tune of N132, 361, 698.65 which were not retired by
the beneficiaries, the committee therefore recommended that the
beneficiaries of NATA/Supervision allowances of N132, 361,698.65 should
also be made to account for the money indicated against their names in the
report respectively.
In the Ministry for Local government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the
committee revealed that the Ministry received the sum of N348,
571,141,755.78 as revenue from the Federation Account from April 2007 to
May, 2015 and expended only N272, 743,173,889.86 but lamented that the
Ministry could “not account for the balance of N75, 827, 949, 721.92 just
as the Ministry could not account for the sum of N6, 193, 659, 776.32 it
received between 2012 and 2014 in respect of SUREP.
Similarly, the Ministry according to the committee, purchased, on behalf
of the 20 LGA’s 277,134,152 Unit of Shares in Intercellular Nigeria Plc,
cumulative Shares worth 885,514,081.08 in Nigerian Sovereign Investment
Authority, N44, 000,000.00 worth of Shares in African independent
Television (AIT) and 10, 814.22 units of shares at Niger Delta Power
Holding Company Limited but failed to provide relevant documents including
evidence of accrued dividend.
The committee said a former Commissioner of the Ministry, Talatu Barwa,
secured the approval of the former Governor for the sum of N2, 191, 248,
744.71 to provide infrastructural facilities in Health, Education and
Security across the 20 Local Government Areas in the State which was not
implemented.
The committee recommended that constitution of a Committee comprising of
professionals to reconcile the accounts (JAAC, Sure-P & Projects Accounts)
of the Ministry for Local Government Affairs in order to ensure
accountability and transparency, while the former Commissioner in the
Ministry, Hajiya Talatu Mohammed Barwa, be made to account for the sum of
N2, 191, 248, 744.71 being amount released for the provision of
infrastructural facilities in the 20 Local Government Areas which was not
implemented.
The committee observed that the Central Bank of Nigeria released a loan of
N2 billion to Bauchi State Government through the Agency for Sustainable
Microfinance for disbursement to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in
the State, but the past administration disbursed only 500 million to the
beneficiaries and fraudulently diverted N1.5 Billion to purportedly
finance security needs between February and April 2015.
However, details of such expenditure were not made available, it said.
Another important area where revelations were made is the Bauchi State
Agency for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, BASOVCA, where the sum of
N785, 486, 085.95 was received and expended as at 31st August, 2015, but
similarly without necessary supporting documents attached to the payment
vouchers presented to the Committee involving huge sum of money that were
withdrawn in cash from the Banks for purchases.
The committee recommended that all the questionable expenditures amounting
to N488, 554, 172.00 be refunded to the Government by the affected
persons.
Receiving the report, Governor Abubakar who lamented the colossal amount
said to have been spent on security while the State was never at war,
promised to give all those indicted by the committee the opportunity to
clear their names because of his belief in the rule of law. He assured
that due process will be followed to recover all resources illegally taken
from government.
The report will be tabled before the state executive council after which a
white paper will be issued enunciating government’s position on it.