COVID-19 vaccine card racketeers arrested in Bauchi

Gov vows to deal with corrupt officials
Bauchi State government, in collaboration with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) and security operatives, has arrested about five persons in connection with Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) vaccine card racketeering.

The Executive Chairman of Bauchi Primary Health Care Development Agency (PHCDA), Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, made this known in his office when COVID-19 Champions, led by Halima Ibrahim, sought his permission to embark on rural enlightenment about COVID-19 vaccine misconceptions.

According to him, many of the state’s health workers and academia resisted the vaccine.

“In collaboration with the police, army and ICPC, we have arrested some people who were buying the vaccine cards without taking the injection. They are now with the security agencies, undergoing investigation.

“Many people who shunned the jab when flagged off by the Governor, his deputy and House of Assembly Speaker, later contracted the virus. Some people, who got vaccinated and felt the mild side effects of the vaccine, were giving others negative narratives. Some were placing metal and other objects on the spot of the jab.

“We carried out a mass campaign on social media and moved to the rural areas for enlightenment,” he added.

MEANWHILE, Governor Bala Mohammed has said that his administration will deal with anyone who engages in financial misconduct.

Mohammed stated this, yesterday, at a three-day workshop on accountability and good governance for members of the Bauchi State Executive Council (SEC), special advisers, permanent secretaries and local council chairmen, organised by the office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

Mohammed, who was represented by his deputy, Baba Tela, said his administration was determined to flush out corrupt tendencies to bring the state out of backwardness into greater heights.

He said: “Let me use this opportunity to remind the participants in this workshop that our government has zero tolerance for financial mismanagement and self-enrichment.

“It is no longer business as usual; anyone caught in the act of financial misconduct would be dealt with in accordance with the laid down rules and regulations.”

Earlier, the SSG, Alhaji Ibrahim Kashim, said the workshop was a combination of the exercises conducted by Dugge Management Services Limited, which led to the appointment of most of the participants, especially permanent secretaries, having passed the tests conducted on them.