Abdulaziz Yari, a former governor of Zamfara state has been indicted for alleged diversion of N90 billion by the Zamfara State Project Verification Committee set up by Governor Bello Matawalle.
Ahmad Zabarma, the chairman of the committee, led members to submit its report on Wednesday, February 12, 2020.
He described the way and manner Yari and his clique siphoned the state’s resources as pathetic, inhuman unacceptable and ungodly.
He suggested governor Matawalle should immediately set-up a Judicial Commission of Enquiry and bring the former governor Yari and all those involved in the discovered scam before it so that the alleged stolen funds to book for possible prosecution.
Giving a sectoral breakdown of the gross misconducts perpetrated in the last administration, Zabarma said even members of House of Assembly were culpable as they supported the immediate government in the disappearance of several funds.
He alleged the bailout fund released to States by President Muhammadu Buhari of which Zamfara received N17 billion just vanished without any verifiable trace.
He said under the administration sector, the sum of N12.5 billion, economic sector N64.4 billion, environmental N13 billion and Social sector N254 million totaling over N90.3 billion which were discovered as over-invoicing by contractors, government officials, consultants, and beneficiaries should be refunded to the State Government.
He stated that even though staff of the State Ministry of Finance suspected to be complicit in the scam refused to cooperate with the verification committee especially in the release of backup expenditure documents, the committee was able to discover how N5 billion Commodity Marketing and Distribution Board Money loan through the CBN for the purchase of Agriculture Commodities disappeared through a reactivated Ministry of Finance dormant Account not captured by the TSA within a span of three days and channeled to the account of Danbazau Global Investment Company.
Matawale, who commended the work of the committee said it was set up to verify handing over and taking over of projects and expenditure which is normal in Government.
He said the state will look into the submission and recommendations and take appropriate actions without fear or favor.
Efforts to get Yari’s reaction to the committee’s findings proved abortive.
Hattip to The Nation
