A former governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, has been accused of diverting the N37.8bn refund made to the state by the Federal Government for executed projects.
Briefing newsmen in his office Tuesday, the state Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Rabiu Garba, said Yari’s administration spent N47bn on federal roads across the state between 2011 and 2018 and was refunded by the Federal Government.
Garba said, “In his handing over note, the former governor declared that the sum of N47.8bn expanded on rehabilitation and construction of federal roads was not reimbursed to the state up to the time he left office.
But to our utmost dismay, when we wrote to the Federal Ministry of Works for the reimbursement of the said money, we discovered that the sum of N37bn was paid to Yari,”
Garba, on behalf of the Governor Bello Matawalle administration, appealed to the Federal Government; the international community and the security agencies to intervene and retrieve the N37bn from Yari for the overall benefits of the people of the state.
Efforts to get the former governor to react to the allegations proved abortive as his mobile telephone line failed to connect.
However, his political associate and the Vice Chairman, Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Sani Gwamna, described the allegation as “laughable and shameful.”
Gwamna said, “The commissioner does not know his duty. If the said amount was diverted, the Zamfara State Government was supposed to report the issue to the EFCC for the recovery of the money.”
Gwamma said the state government should go to court if it was sure of its allegations.
Credit: Punch