Rejoinder: ILLEGAL DIVERSION OF GOVERNMENT FUNDS, INFLATION OF CONTRACTS BY SOKOTO STATE GOVERNMENT

By SHU’AIBU ABDULLAHI

bdanfulani@yahoo.com

                        While browsing at Amana online last week, I came across a petition written by a group called Sokoto Vanguard and signed by four “persons” claiming to be from Sokoto state.

            The petition which was addressed to the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria contains a lot of stories which could make ordinary Nigerians in general and Sokoto indigenes in particular to doubt the integrity of our esteemed Governor and his government in the handling of State’s meager resources which he has used so judiously to improve the quality of life of the people living in Sokoto State, Seat of the caliphate.

            In the first instance the petition lacks merit because it was signed by fictitious persons who do not exist either in Sokoto or anywhere at all.  In addition to being fictitious, the petitioners are full of malice and just want to malign the person and government of Alh. Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa (Garkuwan Sokoto).  To this end they wrote on issues that they are ignorant of and want to use lies and falsehood contained therein to achieve their sinister objectives.

 Financial and other activities of Sokoto state government are well documented and distributed to the general public to enable them have access to Information on how their resources are managed which is in tune with the Governor’s call for good governance, transparency and accountability.  These could be seen in the various publications on the achievements of the state Government published by the state Ministry of Information and the audited Reports of the Accountant General Published by the state Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.  I, therefore, wonder why the petitioners have rushed to the press without cross-checking their facts.

            I have a collection of the publications by the above Ministries from inception to 2006 in the case of Ministry of Information and to 2004 with regards to Ministry of Finance’s audited reports.  For the benefit of the gullible members of the public who may take the petitioners’ position as gospel truth and all those targeted by the petitioners I wish to refute the allegations made by the petitioners one after the other.

            It is a well known fact that the Secretary to the state Government, Commissioners and Special Advisers to the Governor are not signatories to their Ministries’ or Departments’ accounts.  It, therefore, baffles my mind how anyone would say, just because office of the Secretary to the state Government maintains an account with a Bank, that the SSG is signatory to that account.  It is only the Permanent Secretaries and Finance Officers that are signatory to accounts of their Ministries anywhere in Nigeria.  So the allegation that the SSG of Sokoto state signs cheques for an account under his office holds no water. It is an attempt to smear the good name the Secretary to the Sokoto State Government, Alh Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi has carved for himself over the years through sheer hard work and dedication to duty by a shadowy group.

            If the state Government puts money in an account it is only natural that those monies are one day withdrawn for particular activities or projects of the Government.  To say that over N6 billion was “siphoned” from the account is outrageous and a false allegation as well.

            On the issue of the so called inflation of contract, the petitioners have failed to give concrete evidence to support their allegations.

            Here is an administration that has constructed over 800km of tarred roads connecting various parts of the state and is currently constructing about 100km of roads in other parts of the state.  Some of these roads are over 100km in length, others are over 78km.  Yet the petitioners could not see where contract was inflated except on 8km (?) and 11km (?) roads.

            Is this not ridiculous?  Come to think of it, there is no where in the books I read about the roads built by Sokoto state Government where I came across the 8km Marnona-Wurno road. What I read was 9km Munki-Wurno road constructed at N250m against the N300m quoted by the petitioners.  As for the Sokoto-Gagi-Durbawa road which the petitioners called “Unguwar-Rogo Roundabout to Gagi junction” 11km road, here too the petitioners have erred.

            The road has two parts; one is Sokoto-Gagi round about which is asphalt while the other part Gagi round about-Durbawa is double surface dressed.  It is a 12km road and not 11km as the petitioners want us to believe and it was constructed by M/S K&E construction Company not Alh Umar Kwabo.  Alh Umar has nothing to do with road construction and this is a well known fact.  The road was constructed at the cost of N552, 645,040 far less than the N700 million the petitioners have quoted.

            The fictitious petitioners have also written that the Kasarawa Dingyadi road was awarded at an initial sum of N141m but was revoked and re-awarded at the cost of N900 million by the Bafarawa administration.  Here too, the petitioners have not told the whole story.  The road was awarded three times by three successive administrations before Bafarawa and was three times revoked.  Up to the time Governor Bafarawa re-awarded the job, there was not up to one Kilometer that had been completed by any of the three previous contractors.  The initial contract was for single surface dressing while that awarded by Government of Attahiru Bafarawa was for double surface dressing with shoulders and drainage on both sides.  The 53km road was constructed at the cost of N735, million and not N900 million as maliciously written by the petitioners.  I don’t know where they got these figures.

            Government of Attahiru Bafarawa gives contractors money to do their jobs commensurate with the progress of their jobs.  There is, therefore, not a single case of job that was reviewed upwards because of delay in completion.  So all the dust raised by petitioners with regard to road contract were false and should be rejected.  Anyone interested in cross checking these allegations should lay his/her hands on Sokoto state Government publications quoted earlier above.

            As for Iron rods purchased by the state government they were purchased by the state Government along side cement, vehicles, books and other instructional materials for the Primary Education Resuscitation Project of the state Government.  No parts of the Iron rods were left in Lagos or sold to any contractor.  The iron rods are kept at stores control unit where they are sold to contractors and payment deducted from their contract sums in favour of the state Government.  Records of all these transactions are there at, Ministry of Finance, for everyone to see.  Haramaini or Alh Umaru Kwabo has nothing to do with the sale of iron rods to contractors.  The sales are done by officials of stores control unit of the Ministry of Finance.

            Federal Government Economic Reform Programme came along with privatization of Government shares in companies.  The idea is to transfer ownership of these companies from Government to individual Nigerians and other corporate organizations. Like every Nigerian, Alh Nasiru Dalhatu Bafarawa who was a businessman in his own right even before his brother became Governor of Sokoto state, has right to buy and own shares in any Company that is to be privatized.  The cement Company of Northern Nigeria has offered shares for sale to Nigeria public.  Does Nasiru’s relation with the Sokoto state Governor disqualify him from purchasing and owning shares in the Company?  There is absolutely nothing wrong in Alh Nasiru’s Company owning shares in the CCNN.  His company’s name is not NASBAF as indicated by the petitioners.  This again showed that the petitioners don’t have facts on what they wrote.

            This ignorance could also be seen with regard to the allegation that contract for the furnishing of Presidential Lodge was awarded to the sister of Governor Bafarawa’s wife Hajiya (Mrs.) Zainab Ahmad Dasuki at the cost of N300million.  It is a well known fact that Presidential lodge was reconstructed along with 2 villas by shelter Development Company Abuja. It was the same company that furnished the presidential villa at the cost of N 140 million.

            Sokoto state Government as part of the activities that marked the Bicentenary of Sokoto Caliphate purchased directly, from the said Zainab, furniture worth N53, 462,680 for the furnishing of the 4 additional villas constructed as annexes to the Presidential Lodge. Where the petitioners came across the N300 million as the money used to furnish the Presidential lodge and villas is another mystery that only they can solve.  It is all part of a grandiose attempt to discredit the Bafarawa Government using the internet and any means of communication at the detractors’ disposal.  In doing so, however, they tell lies because they are more interested in saying what their sponsors want to hear without cross-checking what they said to avoid saying the wrong thing.

            In its effort to provide clean and portable drinking water to rural populace, the Bafarawa Government came up with the 1000 borehole project.  To achieve this it purchased a drilling rig at the cost of N250 million.  The petitioners put the cost of the Rig at $4.5 million.  This is also false because there is no documentary evidence to support the $4.5m as the cost of the drilling Rig. After all, the Rig was imported the cost (N 250m) was verified by Federal Inspection Agencies before it was cleared at the port of entry.

            Related to this is the allegation that the sum of N3 billion was paid by the state Government for the purchase of 1000 generators and 1000 submersible pumps.  This too is not correct.  Government procured 1,075 submersible pumps at 2,971,200 Pound Sterling and 1,075 17KVA Generating sets at 3,604,750 Pound sterling.   The total cost of all these is 6,575,750 pound sterling.  At what rates of Naira to pound would this translate to N3 billion?  The petitioners should have a rethink on these figures to avoid embarrassing themselves.

CONCLUSION

            From the foregoing it could be seen that there is no substance in what Aminu Muhammad Tureta, Abubakar Sambo Gwadabawa, Muhammad Sani Adullahi Isa and Shehu Musa Sokoto, if they exist at all, wrote about Sokoto state Government.  They are fictions names without domiciliary or working addresses and should, therefore, not be taken seriously.

            What I wrote could be found in Sokoto state government’s various publications either at Ministry of Information or Ministry of Finance.  Whoever has an interest in the true picture of what was written by the petitioners is free to do so.

            My only plea to the petitioners is for them to always put the fear of God in whatever they do.  Our religion forbids telling lies and character assassination no matter the ends one wants to achieve. 

            If they have anything against the state Government and which they want corrected, the Governor’s doors are always open to all manner of people especially state indigenes who are genuinely interested in moving the state forward. 

            I am sure if the writers were to come out of their masks and present themselves and true identity along with the facts and figures available to them in support of their allegations, the Sokoto State Government would be ready and willing to assist them in their investigation and petition to the EFCC.

These write-ups would not assist them.  The President is conversant with Sokoto state Finances.  He knows that the state does not owe money to any contractor and has even a reserve of over N6 billion kept in the Bank for the raining days.

SHU’AIBU ABDULLAHI

Gidadawa, Sokoto