Exposed: How Gov. Yari Spent N400 Million To Host Buhari’s One Day Visit
Chairman of Governors Forum and Governor of Zamfara State, Mr. Abdulaziz Yari allegedly collected over N400million from the state coffers without appropriation by the State House of Assembly to entertain President Mohammadu Buhari’s visit to the state in July, 2016, a state official told Pointblanknews.com
This is even as Pointblanknews.com is still investigating documents in our possession detailing Governor Yari’s businesses in properties, transportation and haulage domiciled in Washington DC.
Buhari was in Zamfara state in July 13, 2016 for a one-day visit during which he launched a special Military Task Force to fight “bandits”.
Zamfara Government sources told Pointblanknews.com that soon as information got to the Governor of the President’s visit, the Permanent Secretary, Government House, Mr. Sa’aad Farouk was directed to release the sum of N400million for the one-day visit.
“Please I don’t know anything about that, Please, I don’t know anything about it”, Farouk told Pointblanknews.com over the phone.
Gov. Yari neither picked calls to his MTN cell phone nor replied to email sent to him on the allegations.
But sources within Zamfara Government House confirmed that the Governor, a very close ally of President Buhari, has been in the habit of collecting millions from the state coffers on a weekly basis for personal usage, prompting anger among Government officials who leaked his behavior to the State Assembly.
The source told Pointblanknews.com that Governor Yari had informed them that the funds is needed to take care of Security personnel made of the Army, Navy, Airfoce, Civil Defence, Police, DSS and others who would be ensuring a safe visit of the President to the State.
“Around July 11 or 12, 2016 the Governor requested for that money and it was released. That is not the only money he has been collecting. If he is investigated today, the whole world would be in shock to see how the resources of the state has been squandered,” the source told Pointblanknews.com
An officer in the Army Public Relations told Pointblanknews.com that the Army is not aware of any fund from Zamfara State and did not receive any money from the State Government during the President’s July trip to the state.
Efforts to reach the Zamfara State Police Commissioner, Mr. Istefanus Shattima to confirm receipt of any money from the State Government during the President’s visit in July were unsuccessful.
The State Assembly, led by Speaker Sanusi Rikiji had accused the Governor of squandering state resources. Specifically, the Zamafara House said the Governor has not been able to account for N1 billion commercial agriculture loan given to the state by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
The House through its Spokesman, Mannir Gidan accused him of “non-remittance of pension funds to pension administrators, non-remittance of 5 percent emirate council funds, the gross misappropriation of bailout funds to the state by the federal government to settle workers’ salaries, including N10b for 2014 and N1.46b in 2016”.
Another lawmaker, Umaru Faru had told the VOA that everyone knows the precarious situation that the state has found itself, saying “people accuse the governor of abandoning the state, and they are also complaining about the handling of the state resources especially the bailout funds released specifically to pay workers’ salaries”.
“The money came but no one knows what happened to it, as we speak local government staff, pensioners have not been paid, in fact, our traditional rulers have not been paid their 5% constitutional allocation for several months, civil servants pay was cut and some of them were even sacked because of dwindling revenue, however, they were not paid their entitlement even after the bailout came.
“That is why we invited them, definitely not for impeachment purposes,” he said.
Sources told Pointblanknews.com that while the Lawmakers and Zamfara citizens worry about their dwindling economic fortunes, the Governor moves state funds to his businesses in Washington DC through cronies where he also attends Graduate school.
The source hinted that every ten days, the Governor comes to the U.S to take care of his academics and attend to his businesses.
“The Assembly complained the Governor is an absentee Governor. That is very correct. I can tell you that while he runs his businesses in the U.S with Zamfara State funds, he also runs a Master Degree program there and that is why he hardly stays to do his job as Governor,” said the source who does not want to be named.
Source: pointblanknews.com
