Ex Bauchi gov Yuguda to explain what happened to N213bn state funds

Former Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda has been asked to account for what happened to N213billion state money during his administration.

This follows the report of a high-powered committee commissioned by the Bauchi State government with the mandate to do forensic audit of all major contracts awarded by the past administration from June 2007 to May 2015.

The committee, after investigation into the activities of Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board, Ministries of Local Government Affairs, Bauchi Specialists Hospital and other MDAs during the period Yuguda was in power, requested the former Governor to account for over N212bn.

The Chairman of the committee, Salihu Abubakar, who stated this when he addressed newsmen at a press conference after presenting the committee’s report to Governor Mohammed Abubakar on Friday, revealed that most of the major contracts awarded by the past government in all the MDAs investigated were uncompleted with many of them not even executed at all, regardless that payments had been made for their completion.

He further stated that some of the “projects were over-inflated, poorly executed, some without due process, and in some cases “contractors were overpaid without any acceptable reason or explanation.”

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Abubakar added that they discovered in their investigation of the period under review that huge payments were made in the Ministry for Local Government Affairs without appropriate payments vouchers presented.

He said, “On several unjustified cash withdrawals made from the accounts of the Ministry for Local Government Affairs by the Cashier to JAAC Account, the committee recommended that former commissioners in the Ministry for Local Government Affairs, Idris Halilu and Abubakar Faggo, retired Permanent Secretaries, and others are to account for N3.5bn.

“The committee recommended that all former commissioners be asked to account for N96bn, while Special Advisers, Permanent Secretaries, Internal Auditors, Cashiers, Directors of Finance in the Ministry and visiting Auditors to the Ministry be made to account for N8bn.

“Similarly, the Committee wants N88.2bn, being amount illegally remitted from the Ministry of Local Government Affairs from its Federation Account Allocations to various MDAs from June 2007 to May 2015 to be recovered from former Governor Isa Yuguda, all former commissioners for Local Government Affairs, all Permanent Secretaries and all former Special Advisers in the Ministry, all former Accountants General or their representatives,” Abubakar said.

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