Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

Shinkafi urges EFCC to prosecute Yari for alleged N251 billion fraud

By Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Abuja
04 July 2019   |   2:59 am
Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Zamfara State, Dr. Sani Shinkafi, has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the tenure of the immediate past governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari. Shinkafi, in a petition dated July 1 to the acting chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, accused Yari of leaving…

[FILE PHOTO] Gov. Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara

Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Zamfara State, Dr. Sani Shinkafi, has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the tenure of the immediate past governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari.

Shinkafi, in a petition dated July 1 to the acting chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, accused Yari of leaving the state in huge debt and urged the anti-graft agency to look into the alleged misappropriation of N251 billion belonging to the state.

Giving details of how the alleged fraud, Shinkafi noted that the Yari-led administration left liabilities from on-going projects to the tune of over N151 billion.

He also pointed at “unremitted national housing fund deductions” of about N1.4 billion from salaries since 2016 and “liabilities under the ministry of education, which involved external examinations to the tune of N2.8 billion.”

The petitioner further alleged that out of the N2 billion approved by Yari for the payment of gratuity backlog, only retired permanent secretaries were paid N400 million while N1.6 billion was unaccounted for.

“I call on the commission to investigate, prosecute and convict former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, over the misappropriation, diversion, siphoning and financial recklessness of N251 billion as alleged by the transition committee headed by the immediate past deputy governor, Ibrahim Wakkala,” he said.

He appealed to the anti-graft agency to invite the immediate past Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Professor Abdulahi Shinkafi, to explain his claim that Zamfara government under Yari spent N35 billion on the procurement of vehicles for security agencies and relief materials for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state.

“This investigation has become expedient following the claims by former Governor Yari that his administration left no debt or liability for the new administration under Bello Mattawelle.

“It is on record that in all the 14 councils in Zamfara that were attacked by armed bandits, there is no single IDP camp established by the state government, not to talk of relief materials for the camps.”

Yari had through his media aide, Ibrahim Dosara, stated that his administration left no debt on the state and that he left N7 billion as take-off for the new administration.

Shinkafi urged the commission to “invite Yari and all the parties involved in the wanton looting of Zamfara to render account of their stewardship while they held sway in the state.”

0 Comments