Bukola Ojeme
8 January 2009
The wife of the immediate past National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and Director General of the G77 South-South Health Care delivery Programme(SSHDP) Dr (mrs) Mariam Ali is the subject of a petition to the Economic & Financial Crimes commission (EFCC), alleging fraudulent diversion of N40 million.
A copy of the petition obtained by Vanguard in Abuja, Wednesday, and signed by a group of volunteer health workers, among others alleged that, Mrs Ali, fraudulently diverted the sum of N40 million released by the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), meant for the payment of salaries and allowances of 40 Nigerian volunteer health workers posted to Tchad, Benin Republic and Sierra Leone, under the SSHDP.
The SSHDP, an initiative of the G-77 developed nations, established in 2000 to provide health care for developing nation is domiciled within the reconstituted Ministry of Special Duties.
The programme is jointly funded by Nigeria, Cuba and Libya, as an organ for pooling together medical resources and deploying same to least developed African countries, in order to facilitate healthcare delivery to member countries and to cement south -south co-operation.
Mrs Ali, who served as the Agency's head of Operations, took over as DG from the former PDP National Chairman, its pioneer DG, when he was called to serve as the Party's national chairman in 2005.
Under Mrs Ali's leadership, the petitioners, in the petition dated January 6, 2009, said, 40 volunteer health workers, drawn from both the public and private sector were recruited to go to Tchad, Benin Republic and Sierra Leone, in a two year contract, under circular N0 SWC/04/S.307/1 of January 18, 2007 from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission on Consolidation of Foreign Service Allowances payable to Foreign Affairs officers serving abroad.
But the petitioners alleged that, the DG summarily recalled the volunteers from their places of posting on September 2008, and sent them on a compulsory annual leave, over what she ascribed to lack of funding by the Federal government.
They alleged further that, at the expiration of the annual leave, Mrs Ali became inaccessible, thus prompting them to take their complaint to the office of the SGF, where , after several meetings, the sum of N40 million was released to her to settle outstanding salaries and allowances of the aggrieved workers.
According to the petition, on, "December 12, 2008, a sum of (forty million naira) Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB) cheque was released to the DG SSHDP from the office of the SGF for immediate payment of all volunteers, regrettably sir, uptill this time of this submission, the volunteers have not been paid, neither have they been able to see the DG, SSHDP.
The volunteers therefore tasked the EFCC Chairman, Mrs Farida Waziri " to use your good office and cause the DG, SSHDP to pay the volunteers all their entitlements to date, without any further delay.
Findings further revealed that, Mrs Ali, had in the wake of change of government from the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration to the President Umaru Yar'adua government attempted to take over the agency as a personal institution, prompting a status clarification by the office of the SGF.
The office of the SGF, had in its in-house journal, OSGF Bulletin, volume 1, no9, page 40, declared that, " President Umaru Musa Yar'adua has approved the reconstitution of the Ministry of Special Duties in the Presidency.
It added that, a circular, with reference number SGF/SD/103/1A dated February 1, 2008, had included the SSHDP among the Departments and agencies under the Ministry of Special Duties.
When vanguard sought the reaction of Mrs Ali on the petition against her, in a telephone interview, she said in a terse reply, " That is not my business.
At the time of filling in this report, the EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Babafemi could not be reached for clarification on the status of the petition.
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