The Adamawa
State government had on Thursday revealed that the federal government had
frozen all the state’s bank accounts. Premium Times Reports.
The Adamawa
State government’s bank account was frozen as a precautionary measure to
safeguard the state treasury amidst evidence of looting uncovered in an on- going
investigation.
Sources at
the Commission claim that there was massive looting of the treasury by top
officials of Adamawa State government, a development that led to the arrest and
questioning of key officials, including the Secretary to the State Government,
the State Commissioner for Finance, former Commissioner for Local Government
(now Commissioner for Higher Education), the Accountant General of the State
and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Local Government.
The Adamawa
State government had on Thursday revealed that the federal government had
frozen all the state’s bank accounts.
The move
came amidst impeachment moves against Governor Murtala Nyako by the Peoples’
Democratic party, PDP-led members of the state’s House of Assembly.
The state’s
lawmakers accused Mr. Nyako and Bala Ngillari, the Deputy Governor, of
siphoning funds from the state’s treasury running into billions of Naira.
The EFCC
said that its investigation was triggered by petitions alleging massive looting
of the treasury by the governor and his cronies through an illegal department
called Special Programme and Project Units, SPPU, which engaged in over
invoicing and inflation of contract.
“In the
course of investigation, a critical analysis of the Joint State/Local
Government account reveals massive cash withdrawals,” a source at the
commission told PREMIUM TIMES.
According to
the source who did not want to be named because it was an ongoing
investigation, the Permanent Secretary of Local Governments in the state made
cash withdrawals of over N2 billion in 181 different transactions, scattered in
tranches of N3 million, N4 million, N8 million and N9 million per transaction
from the State/Local Government account domiciled with First Bank between 29th
of August 2011 and 2012.
He also made
similar cash withdrawals amounting to over N500 million between March 6, 2008,
and March 4, 2011, from another Joint account domiciled in Keystone Bank, the
source added.
“Other
officials of the ministry who allegedly looted the Joint Account include
Justina Jari, a Principal Accountant with the ministry who made cash
withdrawals to the tune of N600 million from the Joint Account between October,
2009 and February, 2011.
“Another
staff of the ministry, Abdulhakeem Mohammed was also alleged to have withdrawn
about N3 billion from the account between February 2007 and May 2011. Two other
staff, Mercy Wanje and Jumai Salihu were also said to have made withdrawals of
N1 billion and N160 million from the account respectively,” the source said.
“On a single
day, another staff called Haruna Hamali, a principal store officer made a cash
withdrawal of over N70 million from the same account,” he said.
“The
withdrawals were made and the money returned to top officials of the state
government as narrated and confirmed by the officials who made the withdrawals.
“The state
officials were arrested in connection with the withdrawals and other ongoing
investigations,” the source added.
Wilson
Uwujaren, spokesman of the EFCC, confirmed the freeze order, but declined to
make further comments.
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