Joint Account: Bafarawa Wants Successor To Testify

Bello Gusau, Sokoto - 27.06.2009

FORMER governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, on Thursday, testified before the commission of enquiry set up by the government to look into the state and local government joint account operated between 2004 and 2007.

He told the commission that he would like his former deputy, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, who is the incumbent governor of the state, to be with him at the venue of the sitting of the commission so as to help him answer some questions bordering on their tenure of office.

Bafarawa said most of the questions being asked were matters before the Federal High Court, Abuja, through a petition written by the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir.

The former governor urged the commission to quiz officials who proposed memos it was investigating before inviting him to testify.

He said unless this was allegedly done, he would never answer any question in respect of memos or receipts emanating from the joint account.

The former governor said this when he was shown copies of his approval for payment, from the joint account, of N89 million for the purchase of vehicles for his personal use and made to understand that a permanent secretary and a chairman of the state education resuscitation committee gave conflicting testimonies on how the money was spent.

The commission’s lead counsel, Mr. O. Ochidi, said permanent secretary, Bello Sifawa, said N6 million was used out of the amount to buy personal cars for the former governor.

He said the education resuscitation chairman, Senator Salihu Bakwai, on his part, said he was instructed by the former governor to give N2 million to each commissioner as well as N1 million to four special advisers, while N61 million was allegedly given to state Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) chairman, Alhaji Umaru Kwabo.

But the former governor said he was aware that between 2003 and 2004, N200 million was deducted from the account and paid into the account of the Secretary to State Government (SSG).

The commission also took on the former governor on the disbursement formula of the funds from the account.

It said the law establishing the account provides that 91 per cent of the amount be shared among the local councils, three per cent given to the Sokoto emirate council, two per cent goes to state economic planning board and the remaining four per cent be committed to loans and common services.

The commission said the former governor was found to have approved payments for supplies that did not fall in these categories and Baffarawa said whatever he did was with the consent of the 23 local government chairmen in the state.

Meanwhile, the commission has directed the state former SSG, Alhaji Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, to appear next Thursday to testify on his involvement in the joint account after which the former governor would be invited.