Isa Yuguda

Eromosele Ebhomele

Former Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State has been further indicted by a committee of the state on the recovery of public property taken without due process.

The committee, under the chairmanship of retired Air Commando Ahmed Tijjani Baba Gamawa, recommended that Yuguda and former Permanent Secretary, Special Services, Alhaji Abdu Ilelah, among others should refund various sums of money said to have been spent on security and other matters for which relevant certification are not available.

Specifically, Yuguda and the former Permanent Secretary are to refund N717 million being the amount claimed to have been spent on security in which all relevant certification and acknowledgement are not available.

Apart from this, Alhaji Adamu Umar Gokaru, former Bauchi State Accountant-General under the former governor, Alhaji Abdu Usman Aliyu, former Auditor-General as well as Abdu Aliyu Ilelah, former Permanent Secretary, Special Duties, are to be sanctioned for gross misconduct.

Yuguda had earlier been indicted by some other committees. He is also believed to be under the watch list of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

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 a N110, 126, 373. 64 was released for the payment of the October, 2015 teachers’ salaries.

The board reportedly utilised N109. 4 million 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 E-Library project awarded by the SUBEB in the Institute of Education had not executed the project fully.

The project contract, according to the recommendation, was handled by then Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Aminu Mohammed Ibrahim, Kangere.

“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 accrued interest of N79 million from the fixed deposit account in Sterling Bank Nigeria Plc should be jointly refunded to the state government by the former Chairman of SUBEB, Alhaji Abdullahi Dabo and the former Chief Accountant of the Board, Alhaji Kabiru Malami Sidi, while all signatories of SUBEB accounts be made to refund the illegal loan collected from Sterling Bank Plc as well as the associated charges amounting to N933. 6,” the committee recommended.

The committee also recommended that the Chief Accountant of the Local Education Authority Accounts at the board, Alhaji Mohammad Alhaji, should be made to account for N774. 9being the balance of N110.1 released to the board for the payment of October, 2015 salaries.

The committee recommended that the sum of $475, 000 be recovered from Global Mega Education and Annabel Consultants being unjustified mortgage commitments in California USA paid by the state government.

The committee noted that a company, EXTACO ALUMINIUM Nigeria Ltd, received N20.4 million as advance payment for the installation of Terrazo in 29 blocks of three classrooms, an office and a store, but that 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. The money was paid as bribe, according to the committee.

Another finding of the committee include the payment of NATA/Supervision allowances to the tune of N132.4 million which were not retired by the beneficiaries.

The committee therefore recommended that the beneficiaries of NATA/Supervision allowances of N132. 4 million should also be made to account for the money indicated against their names in the report respectively.

In the Ministry of Local government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the committee revealed that the ministry received the sum of N348. 6 million as revenue from the Federation Account from April 2007 to May, 2015 and expended only N272. 7 million.

The ministry could “not account for the balance of N75. 8 billion just as the ministry could not account for the sum of N6. 2 billion it received between 2012 and 2014 in respect of SUREP,” the committee found out.

Similarly, the ministry, according to the committee, purchased, on behalf of 20 local government areas 277.1 million units of shares in Intercellular Nigeria Plc, cumulative shares worth 885.5 million in Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, N44 million 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, Hajiya Talatu Mohammed Barwa, secured the approval of the former governor for the sum of N2. 2 billion to provide infrastructural facilities in the health, education and security sectors across the 20 local government areas in the state which was not implemented.

The committee recommended the constitution of a committee comprising of professionals to reconcile the accounts (JAAC, Sure-P & Projects Accounts) of the Ministry of 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 N500 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 recommends undertaking a forensic audit of all accounts of the State for the period covering 2007 to May 2015 in order to ascertain the extent of misappropriation and to serve as future deterrent.

Another important area where sterling revelations were made is the Bauchi State Agency for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, BASOVCA, where the sum of N785. 5 billion was received and expended as at 31 August, 2015, but similarly without necessary supporting documents attached to the payment vouchers presented to the committee involving huge sums of money that were withdrawn in cash from the banks for purchases.

The committee recommended that all the questionable expenditures amounting to N488. 6 billion be refunded to the government by the affected persons.

Receiving the report, Governor Mohammed Abubakar who lamented the colossal amount said to have been spent on security while 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 would be followed to recover all resources illegally taken from the government.

In the meantime, the report will be tabled before the state executive council after which a white paper will be issued enunciating government’s position on it, according to Abubakar al-Sadique, Press Secretary to the Bauchi state governor.