Zamfara State Projects Verification
Committee revealed how former Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar
purchased 110 exotic cars for his wives, friends, and appointees.
The
committee was set up by Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle to verify contracts
awarded by the former governor from 2011 to 2019, whether there was any form of
over inflation; and the level of payments.
Chairman
of the committee, Alhaji Ahmad Abubakar Gusau while presenting an interim
report of the findings said over 1500 vehicles were bought at a total cost of
N8billion, representing 66% of the vehicles purchased by the State Government
between 2011 to 2019, which however have not been accounted for.
He said the vehicles were procured
through the office of the then Secretary to the State Government (SSG) without
any accounting officer because only the SSG and former Governor Abdulaziz Yari
were awarding contracts, since the Permanent Secretaries were sidelined.
“In
the course of our duty we were shocked to identify a disconnect between the SSG
and the office of the Head of Service.
The
SSG office was only romancing with office of the Executive Governor and
billions of tax payers money were recklessly spent by the two mighty offices,”
the committee said.
On school feeding program in the
state, the committee said “The number of the students being fed were over-
inflated, thus allowing the fraudulent officials to illegally siphon N7 billion
every year. This is because in the students feeding affair in the state,
professionals and God-fearing individuals were removed and the programme was
handed to a cabal who grossly over-inflated the number of students that were
being fed.
“For instance, we were at the
Government Senior Secondary School, Dansadau where we were told that 700
students were being fed in that boarding school every day, but we were shocked
to find out that the very day we visited the school only 50 students were
available to collect their food.”
He said in the course of borehole
construction in the state, two companies were over paid with N63 million and
recommended that such money be returned to government coffers, adding that it
is the same case in Zamfara Agency for Poverty Alleviation.
The committee then recommended that a
total of N9.7 billion be returned to the State Government and those involved
brought to justice.
Responding, Governor Matawalle
promised to implement the recommendations to the letter.
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