Taiwo Olawale
5 November 2009
analysis
Lagos — The Panel of Inquiry set up by Sokoto State Government to investigate the tenure of a former governor of the state, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, has indicted him. Consequently, the White Paper issued by the state government, has recommended the former governor for trial. Taiwo Olawale in this report, chronicles the event that led to Bafarawa's indictment
Former Governor of Sokoto State and founder and ex-presidential candidate of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) in the 2007 general election, Alhaji Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa, has been in the news lately. Thanks to the Mega Party agenda. Along with other stakeholders in the project, he has been very busy working on what many hope will live up to its billing as the alternative political platform for Nigerians.
From the end of October however, the former governor has been in the news for an entirely different reason. This time around, instead of being kept busy pursuing the mega party project, the former governor may actually be fighting for his own personal survival. On the 28th of October, 2009, the Sokoto State Government released a White Paper which indicted Bafarawa and some of his former aides on corruption and sundry charges.
According to Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, who revealed details of the White Paper at a press conference in Sokoto, the state government accepted most of the recommendations of the commission of inquiry, which probed the former governor and his aides.
He also explained that the state government had decided to push for the recovery of the funds found to have been misappropriated. He also threatened the possible prosecution of the indicted former governor and others in order to "ensure sanity in government and forestall a recurrence of impunity in public service."
Given this trend, the problems of the former governor are two. He has not only been indicted by a panel constituted by the state government, a White Paper has equally been issued and the state government is determined to pursue the recommendations of the panel as well as stipulations in the White Paper. If the recent conviction of some politicians and public office holders on charges of fraud and mismanagement of funds is anything to go by, then the former governor may have a big battle to fight to stay out of trouble.
His problems seemed to have started as soon as he stepped down in 2007 after being in the saddle as the executive Governor of Sokoto State for eight years. Earlier, he had been indicted on the floor of the National Assembly by Nuhu Ribadu, the then Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) along with 14 other serving governors at the twilight of his administration. But the indictment was half-hearted at best, as the commission failed to substantiate the charges.
But after he handed over to his erstwhile deputy, Alhaji Aliyu Magatarkada Wamako, in May, 2007, most of the petitions written against him while he was in office resurfaced. In fact, based on what the new government saw as a popular demand for investigation into the handling of the finances of the state by the former governor, the state government also wrote a petition to the EFCC to investigate the tenure of the former governor.
Almost all the petitions accused him of abuse of office, money laundering and official corruption running into billions of naira. Based on its preliminary findings, the EFCC arrested Bafarawa mid-2008 and seized his international passport. When he went to court to challenge the seizure of his passport, the EFCC told the court that the former governor was a flight risk because the agency was preparing some charges against him.
Among other things, the agency alleged that Bafarawa approved the illegal withdrawal of the sum of N200 million monthly from the joint Local Government account from the UBA Plc and payment of same into an account known as SSG II Account from 2004 to 2006.
From this amount, it was alleged further that over N2 billion was unaccounted for. Against this background, the anti-corruption agency accused him of misappropriation. It also alleged that the former governor used the money to fund his presidential campaign. EFCC also accused Bafarawa of unilaterally awarding several contracts, without following due process or laid down financial regulations.
While the world awaited the promised arraignment of Bafarawa, the state government decided to follow normal civil service procedures by setting up a commission of inquiry in September 2008 to probe the activities of some agencies from 1999 to 2007. The commission which was chaired by Muhammadu Aminu Ahmad was mandated to look into the activities of the Sokoto state Pilgrims' Welfare Agency, State/Local Governments Joint Accounts and the Ministry of Water Resources.
Specifically, the panel was to look into the various accounts of the Pilgrims' Welfare Agency, particularly at the Bank of the North (now Unity Bank), Kano Road, Sokoto; STB (now UBA), Kano Road, Sokoto; GTB Sokoto and ITB (now Oceanic Bank). The commission was also to ascertain the appropriateness of the purchases of travelers' cheques on behalf of private companies for the lesser hajj.
It was also directed to look at all unauthorized payments outside the statutory payments to the local government councils and the Sultanate as well as examine the purpose and propriety of payments from some accounts to the office of the then Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi. Some other terms of reference of the commission included an inquest into the importation of iron rods by the state Ministry of Water Resources amounting to over N2 billion and to determine the amount paid for the haulage and clearance of the rods.
The panel interviewed 63 witnesses, including Bafarawa and admitted a total of 263 exhibits in respect of the activities of the state Pilgrims' Welfare Agency and the State/LG Joint Accounts. The panel could not conduct the same detailed investigation into the activities of the Ministry of Water Resources because the ministry was still being investigated by the Police and the EFCC.
At the end of its sittings, the panel returned verdicts of guilt for Bafarawa and some of his close aides, including the former SSG, Maigari Dingyadi, Sambo Bello Danchadi and the former Director of Finance, Adamu Gurori. The panel found the former governor and his aides guilty of misappropriating the sum of N2.9 billion and recommended that the indicted officials be made to refund the monies or face prosecution.
In order to give the recommendations of the panel the desired legal backing, the state government decided to set up a White Paper Committee to look into the report and issue a government White Paper on the recommendations. And with the release of the details of the White Paper by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice at the end of October, the stage is set for the commencement of what may yet be the battle of Bafarawa's political life.
This conclusion is not far fetched. Unless a competent court of law nullifies the White Paper, it remains a legal document which can become a clog in his political wheel now or in the future. Second, with the recent conviction of Chief Olabode George, former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on charges of corruption, there would be pressure on the state government to see this indictment to its logical conclusion with the prosecution of Bafarawa and others.
This second factor makes the case against the ex-presidential candidate even more difficult. The mood in the country is definitely in support of an all-out war against corruption. So, the ex-governor will need to work really hard to convince the court of public opinion that he is innocent of all the charges against him.
However, he seems to understand this very well. He hit the ground running by granting several interviews to tell his side of the story. The only problem though is that he needs to improve on the line of defence which he has chosen. Instead of addressing the issues raised by the indictment, he seems to be appealing to political sentiments by insisting that Wamako should also be investigated because he (Wamako) was his deputy when he was in charge. Though he keeps promising that he will soon come out with details, he is yet to give the kind of details that can convince people that he does not have a case to answer.
His words: "This commission of inquiry is meant to blackmail me for reasons best known to him (Wamako). I believe he is just wasting his time and we are going to prove with figures very soon. If at all there is any N2.9 billion to be refunded, then it is with Wamako. Let's meet in court and I will prove that to him. I was the very person that publicly declared that I left N11.8 billion in Sokoto State coffers. It would have been over N13 billion, but I paid salaries and allowances. I said this publicly and I will continue saying it. If at all Wamako is sincere to Sokoto State people, he would have set up a commission of inquiry to investigate me about this money. But he kept quiet. Now, if at all as they claim, we are going to refund money, it is going to be Bafarawa and Wamako to refund the money."
The incumbent governor has refused to join issues with his former boss on the matter. So far however, it is believed that the probe has followed due process and the state government is insisting that it intends to recover the amount said to have been misappropriated by Bafarawa and others. The government is also threatening to prosecute the indicted former officials under sections 125 and 170 of the Shari'ah Penal Code.
Whatever happens from now, will become a watershed in the history of Sokoto State. If the indicted officials refund monies as required of them, they will be the first to do so. And if in the alternative, they are charged to the Shari'ah Court, they will be the first set of former public office holders to be charged to any Shari'ah court in the country on charges of corruption and fraud. No matter what happens eventually, it is certain that these are not the best times for the former governor of Sokoto State.
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