Arrests by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, prompted by a flurry of petitions and revelations of corruption and abuse of office against Adamu Mua’zu at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by the state government threaten to rubbish the image of the former Bauchi governor
By Desmond Utomwen/Bauchi
For the eight years he dominated the political landscape of Bauchi State as governor, Adamu Mua’zu cut the image of an incorruptible public officer whose personal interest was wholly subsumed in the overriding interest of the state. His image loomed so large that as the build-up to the transition in 2007 became fiercer, his anointed successor, Muhammed Nadada Umar, believed he only had to cite the “achievements of Mua’zu” to win the votes of the electorate. Nadada had served in Mu’azu’s administration as Secretary to the State Government, SSG. His ambition, however, crashed.
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| • Ex-Gov. Mua’zu |
The first sign that all may not have been as rosy as the former governor had projected came on 28 March, when operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, clamped down on some key figures in his government. TheNEWS learnt that 29 officials, including Nadada Usman and Senator Bala Adamu Kariya, the former Special Adviser on Local Governments, were arrested over the alleged misappropriation of N8 billion belonging to the Department of Local Government, DLG, between 1999 and 2002. Others arrested were Alhaji Lawal Baraza, Umar Barau Ningi, Auwal Shehu Ilelah, Haruna Alfa Ahmed, Baba Akuyam, Sule Abdulkadir Doguwa, Muhammed Nadada Umar, Bappah Tilde and Malam Jolly from Zaki Local Government. Twenty former council chairmen are also currently being questioned in connection with the N8 billion missing from the department.
This magazine learnt that the arrest on the aides of the former governor was prompted by revelations from the ongoing Judicial Commission of Inquiry sitting in Bauchi, instituted by the administration of Governor Isa Yuguda. This magazine learnt that Yuguda had discovered “an era of decay” under Mu’azu and constituted a committee to look into how affairs of the state were handled under the previous regime, with particular reference to its assets and liabilities.
Inaugurating the commission, Yuguda noted that apart from the financial improprieties and irregularities uncovered by the committee, the audit report of the DLG revealed misappropriation of over N8.8 billion over a period of seven years, while the Contract Review Committee also came up with allegations of misappropriation of public funds. The decision to constitute the Commission, according to Yuguda, was to ensure that the government acted in fairness and in accordance with the rule of law.
As contained in the report presented by Engr. Mohammed Gambo Umar, Chairman Contract Review Committee, “The leadership of the immediate past government of the state was decidedly corrupt, morally bankrupt and administratively inept.’’ The verdict of the panel was predicated on sordid details unearthed during its assignment. According to the committee: “A lot of anomalies in the award and execution of contracts by almost all government agencies were discovered… Prominent among these was the flagrant disregard for due process in the award of competitive tendering by government organisations, as contractors were simply handpicked through selective tendering or executive’s directives…”
Consequently, the committee recommended that a total sum of N7.8billion be refunded to the state government by the various contractors as a result of unilateral change of specifications, non-payment of taxes, non-performance and inflation of contract rates. These include building contracts worth N451.7 million; mechanical engineering contracts worth N543.9 million; water and dam contracts totalling about N591.8 million. The refund of N23.7 million is to be made from contracts for educational equipment/materials;N124.1 million from general procurement contracts and N5.106billion from electrification/electronics/communications contracts.
The committee identified tax irregularities as another area of concern in the award of contracts by government organisations under Mu’azu. Instances were given where contractors built tax into the total contract sums. This simply meant that instead of the contractors paying tax, government paid it for them. Another aspect of tax irregularity discovered was the deferment of tax payment by contractors, especially when advance payments were made. The implication of this, according to the report, is that government financed the contracts, since the advance payment was usually enough to execute the contracts. Also, contract agreements, the basis of commitment of the contracting parties to the terms and conditions of the contracts, were not given the importance they deserved. There were even instances where agreements were simply not made for contracts. And where agreements were drawn up, they were mostly done without recourse to the Ministry of Justice for vetting. Most disheartening, perhaps, was that even where the contract agreements were drafted or vetted by the Ministry of Justice, government interest was not properly protected. The Ministry merely treated drafting or vetting of contract agreement as a mere routine exercise without bringing into play the professional touch needed to plug any loophole that might be exploited by the contractors to use government money to finance the contracts.
In the area of roads and building, it was observed that contingency funds were routinely provided and utilised without authorisation or justification.
In the area of electrification projects, the report alleged that Messrs Puritano Nig. Ltd and Sepeco Nigeria Ltd connived with top government officials to either inflate electrification contract rates or deliberately change specifications to siphon state resources. The committee therefore recommended that the two companies should refund N4.227billion and N633million respectively to the state government, in addition to being blacklisted. “The contracts they are executing at present should also be revoked immediately.”
The report also recommended that investigation be conducted into contracts worth about N1.9 billion that were concealed by the Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Rural Development. The Ministry of Budget and Planning was directed to account for the money allocated to supervisors of water supply projects which were not paid to them, while proper investigation should also be conducted to determine the number of boreholes the Ministry of Rural Development drilled for contractors and individuals without remitting the proceeds to government coffers. “Government should revoke the Turn Around Maintenance of Gubi Dam water treatment plant awarded to Messrs Merepianti Nig. Ltd for non-performance. A small committee should be set up to work out what is due to either the government or the contractor,” the report stated, adding that Adamu Mu’azu and all persons who served as commissioner for water resources in his administration should be indicted for conniving with contractors to defraud the state government through dubious water supply contracts.
Some questionable transactions were also uncovered by the committee. The transactions include the alleged release of N400million by the Ministry of Health to Messrs Cachez Turnkey for renovation of General Hospitals in Ningi and Misau; and the award of a tree planting contract worth N160million to a chieftain of a political party which was said not to have been executed. Another report submitted by the Committee for the Verification and Recovery of Public Assets, chaired by Barrister Bako Abdullahi, identified the Department for Local Government under Mu’azu as the most culpable in the mismanagement of public funds.
It viewed it as unusual for the government to provide interest-free loans to contractors to execute contracts awarded them. Purtano and Sapeco, two companies believed to have links to Mu’azu were thus asked to refund N1.9billion and N303million respectively.
The committee also uncovered that during the period Mu’azu was governor, a total of N88.4million was unlawfully withdrawn from the state government’s Account No. 21333172260 in First inland Bank by the former Commissioner for Finance and two others. Effort is currently being made by the state government to recover the questionable withdrawals. Mu’azu’s government was also discovered to have misappropriated N250.4million from the state Board of Internal Revenue. The EFCC has, however, recovered N130,670,760 of the sum.
As at press time, three former local government chairmen had testified on the purported supply of over N174m worth of vaccines and syringes at the on-going public hearing of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry. The former chairmen are Alhajis Uba Nana, Aliyu Aminu Garu and Mohammed Hassan of Warji, Bauchi and Katagum Local Government areas respectively.
Exhibits tendered before the Justice Bitrus Sanga-led Commission showed how contracts for the supply of vaccines and syringes were awarded to two companies with the same address between December 2004 and January 2006. They are Five Star Commercial Enterprises and Alhaji Ishiaku Limited, both located at Dogon Karfe Bukur Bye-pass, Jos, Plateau State.
But more controversial was the revelation by the former chairmen that they were coerced into serving as conduit pipe for the state government who imposed the project on them. The chairmen maintained that their signatures which appeared on the contract documents were just to give the contract a face of authenticity, stressing that they did not receive such items on behalf of their councils.
The claims by the former chairmen followed earlier testimony by the Chief Store Officer of the state chapter of the National Programme on Immunisation, NPI, Baba Usman, who testified that vaccines are only ordered through UNICEF, Federal, States and Local Governments and collected free of charge as is the practice all over the world. Similarly, Treasurers, Store Officers and Cold Chain Officers of the 20 local government areas of the state appeared before the Commission and testified to the non-receipt of the said items.
The former chairmen, under cross-examinations explained how they were used as conduit pipes to fleece the government of several millions of naira under the guise of mandatory security payments through the Department of Local Government. The amounts contained in the payments vouchers range between N38m and N62m, depending on their entitlements from the allocation from the Federation Account.
A release signed by Ibrahim Sani, media consultant to the Judicial Commission of Inquiry, noted that the commission has received 14 exhibits from individuals, government and non-governmental organisations and companies, directly linking the former governor and his administration to various misdeeds.
While repeated efforts to speak with ex-governor Mu’azu failed, some of those close to the former governor spoken to accused Governor Isah Yuguda of embarking on a vengeful mission and trying to rubbish the cherished legacies of his predecessor and destroy him politically. Such efforts, they vowed, will fail.
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