A syndicate of international financial crimes investigators has obtained bank documents detailing curious debits and credits on the bank accounts of former governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari while he was governor in 2016.
\nYari , a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who is currently a Senator representing Zamfara West Senatorial district was governor of the minerals-rich but impoverished state between 2011 and 2019.
\nDocuments obtained by the investigators and seen by our team of investigative reporters include bank details from his First Bank account number 2030979516 domiciled at #2 Owene Close, Maitama, Abuja. A careful scrutiny of the bank details showed a curious frequency of debits and credits in US dollars.
\nThe spotlight on the bank transactions zeroed in on 2015, 2016 and 2017 when Yari was governor of Zamfara state.
\nThe bank papers showed a bizarre pattern of payments, showing a man on a spending spree overseas.
\nFor instance, while he was a serving governor of Zamfara in 2016, Yari practically shut down Harrods, an exclusive shopping mall in highbrow London where the rich and wealthy flaunt the depth of their pockets.
\nOn October 24, 2016, Yari while as sitting governor made out eight different payments at Harrods all debited from his Frist Bank account in the sums of $124,918.85; $387,947.80; $533,994; $606,199.30; $1,046,384.85; $894,607.70; $150,727.95; and $267,683.25 all totaling $4,011,459 (Four million, eleven thousand, four hundred and fifty-nine US dollars). That is the amount Yari splurged at Harrods in one day of shopping orgy.
\nIn the same year, Yari on October 20, paid out the sum of $62,016.63 twice in New Jersey and Washington, United States for undisclosed transactions.
\nOn October 18, same year, Yari\u2019s account at First Bank, Maitama, was debited the sum of a chunky $3,050,000.00 (Three million and fifty thousand dollars) for something captured as purchases in Montblanc Maclean, an exotic luxury store in Virginia, US. Besides expensive wrist watches, Montblanc is home to high profile gift items including pens, perfumes, etc. The bank documents did not break down items purchased by Nigeria\u2019s shopper-in-chief.
\nThe following day, October 19, the sum of $198,087.50 was spend for some services\/products in Fogo de Chao, Washington.
\nYari\u2019s propensity to squander what the investigators flagged as public money laundered into his personal account was not limited to London and the United States.
\nIn one day, on December 13, 2016, Yari paid out the sums $441, 121.50 and $30,195.00 to Nahdi Medical Company in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Investigators are at a fix to tell whether the huge sums were for his personal medical bill or for all the sick people in his state. However, the fact that he was paying from his personal account suggests that the huge funds were for his personal care and attention and those of his close family members.
\nThe spending pattern showed that Yari lived larger than life while presiding over poor Zamfara, a state with poor infrastructure, cracked up by insecurity.
\nStill on Yari\u2019s\u00a0 Arabian adventure: On September 14, 2016, Yari\u2019s First Bank account was debited the sum of $1,989,071.15 and credited to Intercontinental Hotel, Madinah, a bill that looked like a community bill in a classy hotel.
\nEarlier on September 26, 2016, Yari\u2019s lust for luxury was satiated with a handsome bill of $4,679,388.32 from the same First Bank account in favour of Park Hyatt, a five-star hotel in Dubai. On the same day, Yari was still shopping in the United States probably from the comfort of his hotel room in Dubai as his account got a debit hit of $3,083,700 in favour of Louis Vuitton, New York.
\nAltogether, in a space of four months, between September and December, 2016, Yari spent a princely $18,204,609 on shopping, hotel accommodation, medicals and luxury.
\nBut while he was living large overseas, Zamfara state was swamped in poverty, tagged among states with the lowest internally Generated Revenue (IGR), growing debt overhang and low GDP. He left the state in debt and poverty.
\nZamfara recorded debt increase of 109.55 per cent within the period of his shopping orgy.
\nAs of December 31, 2015, Zamfara State\u2019s debt stock had risen from N46.28bn to N96.98.<\/p>\n
A syndicate of international financial crimes investigators has obtained bank documents detailing curious debits and credits on the bank accounts of former governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n