KanoOnline.com Forum

The following story was culled from the daily independent of 7/6/05
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By Wisdom Patrick (Lagos)

Adetutu Folasade-Koyi,

Paul Mumeh (Abuja)

and Godwin Egbara (Bauchi)



Fraud may be a regular fare on the Nigerian terrain, yet it has just gone bananas in the North, ravaging two states and Abuja and depriving tax payers of N602 million in money terms alone.

Governors, ministers and five senators are listed among its victims in Abuja, where Federal Capital Territory Development Authority (FCDA) Chairman, Nasir El-Rufai, confirmed on Monday that FCDA employees issue bogus land papers to feather their own nests.

But the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has equally become more determined to excise the cancer that has tarnished the image of the country beyond its shores. It has rounded up 41 of the alleged perpetrators.

It arrested 27 in Bauchi for allegedly swindling the state government of N196 million.

In Kano, Governor Ibrahim Shekarau handed over 14 senior officials of the Kano State Board of Internal Revenue Service (KBIRS) to the EFCC for probe on allegations of stealing government property worth N406 million.

Seven of those nabbed in Bauchi work in the Treasury Department, 10 (Board of Internal Revenue), two (Finance Ministry) and eight (State Property and Investment Company). Six of them have been transferred to Abuja.

A source said the EFCC has placed four banks in the city under surveillance for their roles in diverting the funds. He did not name names.

The commission is also investigating the state poverty alleviation programme, although details of the allegations against the agency are still sketchy.

The arrests were made at the instance of Governor Ahmadu Muazu who, two weeks ago, handed a petition to EFCC Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, over  alleged disappearance of state funds between last year and the first quarter of this year.

Ribadu was in Bauchi last Monday and, before he left, 27 persons were hoarded into police cell. Six, said to be principal actors in the fraud, were whisked off to Abuja.

One of the principal suspects reportedly disclosed in his confessional statement that he got about N16 million in the deal which he shared with a highly placed government official.

Information Commissioner, Ibrahim Zailani, confirmed the arrests. ?The money involved is N196 million, but I don't have details of who and who were arrested, because investigation is still going on,? he said.

An EFCC source said the 14 persons arrested in Kano are cooling their heels at the EFCC cell in Abuja. They were picked up last Thursday.

Their incarceration was facilitated by both the EFCC team and a panel of enquiry set up by Shekarau upon  discovery of the alleged fraud.

?We were invited after it was discovered that they stole N406 million belonging to the state government. They were arrested in Kano and brought down to Abuja.  All of them have owned up to the crime and they would soon be charged to court?, he explained.

It was learnt that they carried out the fraud by printing fake KSBIR booklets of receipt which they issued after collecting revenue.

The source added: ?The scam was the product of a high-powered syndicate in the civil service and it may be very difficult to crack the gangsters. But we at the EFCC are determined to bring sanity to the business environment of this country. That is our mission, and by the grace of God we will get there?.

El-Rufai stunned legislators in Abuja when he revealed his staff?s complicity in the issuance of fake land certificates and certificates of occupancy (C of O).

?We also discovered that staff who left the ministry more than 20 years ago are still signing documents. Some stamp the documents and backdate them?, he stated.

He said the EFCC is probing the employees.

The disclosure came at the Monday?s inauguration of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on FCT Demolition, which was declared open by Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu.

The committee is headed by Senator Idris Kuta.

Double tragedy looms for the 174 residents whose homes were flattened in the Kubwa area of Abuja as el-Rufai reiterated that they will be prosecuted for constructing illegal structures.

They would soon be charged to court and be made to refund the money spent to remove the buildings, he added.

He, however, informed the committee that N500 million has been ring-fenced to compensate ?proper title holders? whose houses were demolished, but that  ?people don?t come forward? to make claims.

He justified the demolition of houses, stressing that no court injunction has been granted against the ministry.

In his welcome address earlier, Kuta cited Senate Rule 74 (1) which requires any senator to declare whether he has any pecuniary interest in any matter before the committee.

He confirmed that neither he nor other members has financial interest in the matter and that they are not affected in the demolition exercise.

Kuta assured el-Rufai that the committee?s interest is ?to ascertain the legality or otherwise of the demolition. We have come here to do an honest exercise assigned to us by the Senate?.

El-Rufai took the opportunity to scold the House of Representatives for its hasty condemnation of the  exercise.

?This is the first real chance, the first opportunity we have got from the legislature, to tell our story in an objective atmosphere, free of bias. I wished that the House of Representatives had made the same statements here, which never came from them. We intend to cooperate fully with you, tell you everything you need to know.

?We have tried to be consultative and carry people along. It is unfair and irresponsible if people say we don?t want poor people in Abuja. I spent one and a half years without allocating land because we wanted to sort out the messy records?.

He apologised to those affected in the exercise, saying the FCDA is bound to make mistakes because it is run by humans.
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We must commend the govs of both states for inviting the EFCC to remove the scourge of corruption in them, however I can not help to wonder that both the states affected have adopted the sharia legal system, is there any reason why the suspects were not tried in sharia courts and purnished in accordance to the laws?  Or are their positions such that they should not be tried in such courts? what about the have nots that have been tried under the sharia system found guilty and the sentence carried out? Do these governors owe citizens of their states an explanation on why they did not try the culprits in a sharia court? If the governors feel that their sharia courts in their states are not yet matured/experienced enough to try such cases then should they be trying any case?

Salam

Mallamt: thanks for brining this issue to our attention.

What this shows is that government, at all levels, has created a culture which is very lax as and untransparent that officials who are not very high on the civil service ladder could have the audacity to devour a state's treasury- like they allegedly did. It is shamefull indeed. I don't know if to congratulate the governors for taking such a important decision because people, in both states, have long called for more openess and transparency in governing their affairs. So, I'll just say it is a step in the right direction.

mallamt almost soured his commentary by insinuating that the governors of Kano and Bauchi state are not keen on Sharia, hence their not forwarding the cases to a Sharia court.  I can only speculate why this is so. EFCC has shown itself to be a reputable no-nonsense body that deals with issues like these swiftly. So, it might be that Shekarau thought he stood a better chance of securing a conviction through th EFCC- which can also arraign someone in a Sharia court. Mallamt should also remember that EFCC does more "investigating" than it prosecutes. So, it might well have been that the govt forwarded the case for investigation not prosecution.

I should add that, if the governor forwarded the case for prosecution not investigation, then he is, in effect,  negating the very issue that is central to his assuming his office. If govt doesn't have confidence in the Sharia courts, why should we?

PS: I believe Kano state's AG is trying a death penalty child rape case in a Sharia court. So, i dont know what to make of the situation!