Dr Ladan Salihu, the spokesperson for Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, tells ARMSTRONG BAKAM that the immediate past governor of the state, Mohammed Abubakar, was reckless in handling the resources of the state
Former Governor Mohammed Abubakar claimed to have left N11.6bn in the state’s coffers. What’s your reaction to this?
That is true. Bauchi State Government got a refund from the federation account in the form of bonds that were to be discounted and the money deposited into the coffers of the state government. This money hit the state’s account 24 hours to the expiration of his tenure. However, 11 hours before the exit of the government, we had it from reliable sources that the governor had instructed that the money should be used for contract payments to cronies, friends as well as other things just to squander it.
The governor reached out to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and we got the EFCC to block these payments. This was a governor that would have spent N11bn in 11 hours just before his exit from government. Nowhere in the history of leadership in this country, at the level he operated, was that recorded. The government was exceptionally reckless. If we hadn’t got the EFCC to put a seal and block these accounts, we wouldn’t be talking of the N11bn that we have in our coffers today. So, he didn’t leave the funds willingly; he was stopped from spending them.
Let me make another clarification here. This money, amounting to N14bn, was supposed to have been discounted at a very competitive rate that would have been favourable to the state. Some states that got the same facility had it at a discounted rate of nine per cent but the out-gone administration got the amount of N11.6bn at a discounted rate of 16 per cent, which showed that there was an insider trading. Bauchi State was shortchanged. If it was done at nine per cent and you had N14bn, we would have probably had something well above N12bn. That was the signal we got. Then, the other signal we got was that, 24 hours to the exit of the administration, cheques were written and this N11.6bn would have been totally squandered. At the time of our inauguration, we would have probably just have got zero balance in our account. The arrow head of the government went to work and made sure that the relevant financial intelligence and financial security agencies ensured that the outgoing government did not access the money, and that is part of the seed money that will now be utilised by the current administration to ensure that the people of Bauchi State get some relief.
How did you come about the N137bn debt allegedly left by the former administration?
When the Federal Office of Statistics came up with the debt profile of N92bn, obviously that debt profile didn’t take into account the debt owed local contractors and other jobs that were given. These debts were not captured in the mainstream statistics of the agency. So, what you saw in terms of the difference between the N92bn and N137bn was an accumulation of the debts that have not been updated into the data of the Federal Office of Statistics. The debt figure is N137bn and in fact, it is even more. When we aggregated figures from the Transition Committee and other sources, from the treasury and the Economic Planning Department, the figure is more than N137bn.
There were claims that vehicles and other property were taken away. How many vehicles did you discover to have been taken away?
At this very early stage of this administration, it is very difficult to come up with the figures. But we have it on record that vehicles were taken away. In fact, on the day Senator Bala Mohammed was declared governor and returned elected, people saw 21 new Toyota Hilux pick-ups that left the state capital on Jos Road. We were alerted. We are also aware that some cars were auctioned without going through the procedures laid down by the Board of Survey. We have seen stories about 500 tractors that were said to have been purchased and launched at the time President Muhammadu Buhari visited Bauchi. But we have not seen five of these tractors. When you want to auction, you look at the date of purchase and the date of sale. You don’t buy a car and two weeks after or six months, you are auctioning these same cars at a rate that is ridiculous. That is unacceptable.
The past government has challenged you to substantiate your allegations with facts. Do you have proof to back these claims?
When we get to that bridge, we will cross it. But I can assure you, in the coming months, if they thread this path, they will have themselves to blame because we will open a Pandora Box that will show to the entire world how reckless and irresponsible the immediate past government had been; how insensitive they’d been to the plight of the people that elected them.
How EFCC Stopped Ex Governor From Squandering N11bn Oh His Last Day In Office
June 16, 2019
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