By Suleiman Umaru and Lateef Adegbite
For eight years, Former President Muhammdu Buhari, a retired Army General, who has created the impression that he was out to fight Corruption? In the system may have turned his eyes the other way for his political appointees to loot the treasury.
This is evident going by the discovery of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who incidentally was a-one time governor of Lagos state of the high profile looting of the treasury that went on during the Katsina state born Nigerian President’s Leadership as he fumes.
Nuhu Ribadu, a former Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and National Security Adviser t, NSA, to the Nigerian President may have given a signal to Nigerians that the Administration has nothing to hide as it will expose the rot of the previous Administration and why the nation has found itself in this economic mess.
The former Lagos state governor appears have known that there is no way the government can get an insight into the management of the country’s foreign exchange revenue earnings including funds borrowed from the World Bank and the Asian country of China without apprehending Godwin Emefiele, then governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, who had planned to contest the February 25, 2023, Presidential election on the platform of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, before he jets out of the country with the elapse of the Buhari’s Administration .
It was not surprising why Magaji Yusuf Bichi, led Department of State Service, DSS, operatives arrested and detained the former CBN, governor, for months over alleged corruption. Emefiele’s arrest and subsequent interrogation by DSS operatives may have exposed a lot of things about the Buhari’s government’s government Management of the country’s forex revenue , domestic and external borrowing that emboldened President Tinubu, to secretly probe the BUhari’s Administration which was said to have exposed the high level that was said to have been committed by his political appointees during his eight years in office as President and Commander –In-Chief, C-In-C, of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Ony recently the Auditor General of the Federation had released the 2020 annual report which gave a damning revelations of the disappearance of $3.4 billion World Bank/IMF loan that was obtained under the Buhari regime . ‘’There was no document to show the movement and spending of the Loan’’.
The Leadership of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, who did not find the disappearance of the $3.4 billion loan from the World Bank/IMF, funny, were said to have taken up the matter with Tinbubu , alleging that the money was diverted and must be accounted for.
Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP Deputy Director, who could not hide his feelings had said that Nigerians can neither benefit from the projects for which the loan was approved, yet the country would be made to pay both the loan and accrued interest. SERAP officials, had asked President Tinubu, to investigate the allegation of the missing 3.4 billion and bring the suspected perpetrators to justice and recover the funds.
Going by the Auditor General of Federation’s 2020, annual report, Nigeria is expected to spread the payment of the World Bank/IMF loan from 2023 to 2027, scheduled for another Presidential election elections, an interval of four years.
The Auditor General of Federation’s office, may have shocked Nigerians when it stated that that first instalment of $497.17 million was made to the World Bank I 2023 while the second payment put at about $$1.76 billion will made to the global Bank in 2024.The third payment to the World Bank/IMF, due in 202, is expected to be serviced with $865.76 million of the country’s foreign exchange earnng from Crude oil exports. Whether the Tinubu’s Administration would investigate the missing $3.4 billion World Bank/IMF loan remain to be seen.
While the dust raised over the missing$3.4 billion World Bank/IMF loan by the Buhari’s government in 2020, is yet to settle, Olayemi Michael Cardoso, the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, had said the apex Bank has uncovered a $2.4 billion invalid foreign outstanding clams believed to be affecting the value of the naira in the country’s Autonomous foreign exchange market, AFEM.
Cardo , the CBN, governor had said that the discovery and other exposed number suspicious transactions were made by Delotitte, Consultants to the CBN, which had audited the apex Bank foreign exchange obligations to provide the true picture of the situation.
An aggrieved Cardoso, had reported that going by the the Delotitte assessment, of the country’s forex situation, up to $2.4 billion of the backlog of the transactions wee found to be false and which had been putting undue pressure on the naira at the country’s AFEM and Parallel, popular, Black market foreign exchange rates .
The CBN governor had lamented that the claimants of the suspicious $2.4 billion could not provide the necessary import documentation to facilitate the payment, fueling speculations making the rounds it was a fraud. Delotitte Consultants who were said to have used forensics as instructed by the apex Bank Management team to assess its obligations and to actually tell them on what was valid and what was not may have exposed the fraudulent forex claimants.
He had said that of the $7billion backlog of unfulfilled North American country of the United States dollar demand from investors and other foreign currency users, the $2.4 billion out of the total amount had issues ranging from not having solid import documents and in some cases’ the entities do not exist’’.
Another Major fruad that was said to have been discovered by the Tinubu’s Administration over the last eight a months that committed during Buhari’s Administration was said to be in the ministry of Hmanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, now baptized ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviatio by Tinubu.
Hajia Sadiya Farouq, a theminister overseeing the ministry under the Buhari’s regime, had confirmed that $1 billion was earmarked annually for the ministry to fund the government Social Investment Programme, SIP. This may have informed why Hajia Farouq, the immediate past minister of the ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and his successor, Beta Edu, including officials of the ministry and SIP , had looted the funds for the SIPS.
The Nigerian President may have known that all is well with the SIP, an agency under the ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation when Edu, the suspended minister was founded to have approved the payment of N58.19 million into the private acoount of one Mrs. Bridget Moisola Oniyelu.
The ministerial approval for illegal transfer of the N585.19 million into a private account may have given Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, under the close watch of Ola Olukoyede , to step in on the invitation of the Nigerian President to investigate the SIP.
The intervention of the EFCC, in the SIP operation to ascertain how the billions of naira allocated to the SIP between2015 and now, may have exposed the financial mess in the agency between 2015 and now. Besides the N585.19 million ilegall transferred into the private account of one Mrs. Oniyelu, the antigraft agency was said to have uncovered additional N37.7 billion that was said to have been laundered in the ministry by Hajia Farouq, the immediate past minister of the ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
Indeed, the financial mess in the Buhari’s Administration became more pronounced as N3.2 billion was traced to Engrios Nigeria Limited, a Company liked to Abubakar Ahmad Sirika, brother of Hadi Sirika, immediate past minister of Aviation. The ormer minister of Aviation brother , Ahmad Sirika, was said to have been involved in an alleged N8.06 billion contract fraud in the ministry
Sirika, the former Aviation minister, was said to have awarded several contracts to Ahmad Sirika, his brother, who incidentally was a top official in the Federal ministry of Water Resources, which were never executed despite collecting full mobilization fee. Some of the contracts that was said to haven awrded to the minister of Aviation brother includes Construction of the terminal building in Katsina airport, , valued at about , N1.3 billion, Fire Truck Maintenance and Refurbishment centre in Katsina airport , N3.8 billion, Procurement and Installation of elevators, air conditioners and generator House in AviationHouse, Abuja, N615 million, Procurement of Magnus Aircraft and Simulator for Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, N2.3 billion.
Ahmad Sirika, was said to have been paid N3.2 billion out of the total N8.6 billion total contract sum, which the EFCC , investigators had confirmed was transferred to different Companies and individuals. There are indications that no trace of work had been done on any of contract items by he former Aviation minister’s brother till date.
Many believe that that there were several worst cases of frau in other ministries other than the ministers of Aviation, Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation , during the Buhari’s regime. TThis may have informe why the Nigerian President has come up hard on the ministers and other political appointees linked with any trace of fraud in his government.
By Suleiman Umaru and Lateef Adegbite
For eight years, Former President Muhammdu Buhari, a retired Army General, who has created the impression that he was out to fight Corruption? In the system may have turned his eyes the other way for his political appointees to loot the treasury.
This is evident going by the discovery of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who incidentally was a-one time governor of Lagos state of the high profile looting of the treasury that went on during the Katsina state born Nigerian President’s Leadership as he fumes.
Nuhu Ribadu, a former Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and National Security Adviser t, NSA, to the Nigerian President may have given a signal to Nigerians that the Administration has nothing to hide as it will expose the rot of the previous Administration and why the nation has found itself in this economic mess.
The former Lagos state governor appears have known that there is no way the government can get an insight into the management of the country’s foreign exchange revenue earnings including funds borrowed from the World Bank and the Asian country of China without apprehending Godwin Emefiele, then governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, who had planned to contest the February 25, 2023, Presidential election on the platform of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, before he jets out of the country with the elapse of the Buhari’s Administration .
It was not surprising why Magaji Yusuf Bichi, led Department of State Service, DSS, operatives arrested and detained the former CBN, governor, for months over alleged corruption. Emefiele’s arrest and subsequent interrogation by DSS operatives may have exposed a lot of things about the Buhari’s government’s government Management of the country’s forex revenue , domestic and external borrowing that emboldened President Tinubu, to secretly probe the BUhari’s Administration which was said to have exposed the high level that was said to have been committed by his political appointees during his eight years in office as President and Commander –In-Chief, C-In-C, of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Ony recently the Auditor General of the Federation had released the 2020 annual report which gave a damning revelations of the disappearance of $3.4 billion World Bank/IMF loan that was obtained under the Buhari regime . ‘’There was no document to show the movement and spending of the Loan’’.
The Leadership of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, who did not find the disappearance of the $3.4 billion loan from the World Bank/IMF, funny, were said to have taken up the matter with Tinbubu , alleging that the money was diverted and must be accounted for.
Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP Deputy Director, who could not hide his feelings had said that Nigerians can neither benefit from the projects for which the loan was approved, yet the country would be made to pay both the loan and accrued interest. SERAP officials, had asked President Tinubu, to investigate the allegation of the missing 3.4 billion and bring the suspected perpetrators to justice and recover the funds.
Going by the Auditor General of Federation’s 2020, annual report, Nigeria is expected to spread the payment of the World Bank/IMF loan from 2023 to 2027, scheduled for another Presidential election elections, an interval of four years.
The Auditor General of Federation’s office, may have shocked Nigerians when it stated that that first instalment of $497.17 million was made to the World Bank I 2023 while the second payment put at about $$1.76 billion will made to the global Bank in 2024.The third payment to the World Bank/IMF, due in 202, is expected to be serviced with $865.76 million of the country’s foreign exchange earnng from Crude oil exports. Whether the Tinubu’s Administration would investigate the missing $3.4 billion World Bank/IMF loan remain to be seen.
While the dust raised over the missing$3.4 billion World Bank/IMF loan by the Buhari’s government in 2020, is yet to settle, Olayemi Michael Cardoso, the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, had said the apex Bank has uncovered a $2.4 billion invalid foreign outstanding clams believed to be affecting the value of the naira in the country’s Autonomous foreign exchange market, AFEM.
Cardo , the CBN, governor had said that the discovery and other exposed number suspicious transactions were made by Delotitte, Consultants to the CBN, which had audited the apex Bank foreign exchange obligations to provide the true picture of the situation.
An aggrieved Cardoso, had reported that going by the the Delotitte assessment, of the country’s forex situation, up to $2.4 billion of the backlog of the transactions wee found to be false and which had been putting undue pressure on the naira at the country’s AFEM and Parallel, popular, Black market foreign exchange rates .
The CBN governor had lamented that the claimants of the suspicious $2.4 billion could not provide the necessary import documentation to facilitate the payment, fueling speculations making the rounds it was a fraud. Delotitte Consultants who were said to have used forensics as instructed by the apex Bank Management team to assess its obligations and to actually tell them on what was valid and what was not may have exposed the fraudulent forex claimants.
He had said that of the $7billion backlog of unfulfilled North American country of the United States dollar demand from investors and other foreign currency users, the $2.4 billion out of the total amount had issues ranging from not having solid import documents and in some cases’ the entities do not exist’’.
Another Major fruad that was said to have been discovered by the Tinubu’s Administration over the last eight a months that committed during Buhari’s Administration was said to be in the ministry of Hmanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, now baptized ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviatio by Tinubu.
Hajia Sadiya Farouq, a theminister overseeing the ministry under the Buhari’s regime, had confirmed that $1 billion was earmarked annually for the ministry to fund the government Social Investment Programme, SIP. This may have informed why Hajia Farouq, the immediate past minister of the ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and his successor, Beta Edu, including officials of the ministry and SIP , had looted the funds for the SIPS.
The Nigerian President may have known that all is well with the SIP, an agency under the ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation when Edu, the suspended minister was founded to have approved the payment of N58.19 million into the private acoount of one Mrs. Bridget Moisola Oniyelu.
The ministerial approval for illegal transfer of the N585.19 million into a private account may have given Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, under the close watch of Ola Olukoyede , to step in on the invitation of the Nigerian President to investigate the SIP.
The intervention of the EFCC, in the SIP operation to ascertain how the billions of naira allocated to the SIP between2015 and now, may have exposed the financial mess in the agency between 2015 and now. Besides the N585.19 million ilegall transferred into the private account of one Mrs. Oniyelu, the antigraft agency was said to have uncovered additional N37.7 billion that was said to have been laundered in the ministry by Hajia Farouq, the immediate past minister of the ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
Indeed, the financial mess in the Buhari’s Administration became more pronounced as N3.2 billion was traced to Engrios Nigeria Limited, a Company liked to Abubakar Ahmad Sirika, brother of Hadi Sirika, immediate past minister of Aviation. The ormer minister of Aviation brother , Ahmad Sirika, was said to have been involved in an alleged N8.06 billion contract fraud in the ministry
Sirika, the former Aviation minister, was said to have awarded several contracts to Ahmad Sirika, his brother, who incidentally was a top official in the Federal ministry of Water Resources, which were never executed despite collecting full mobilization fee. Some of the contracts that was said to haven awrded to the minister of Aviation brother includes Construction of the terminal building in Katsina airport, , valued at about , N1.3 billion, Fire Truck Maintenance and Refurbishment centre in Katsina airport , N3.8 billion, Procurement and Installation of elevators, air conditioners and generator House in AviationHouse, Abuja, N615 million, Procurement of Magnus Aircraft and Simulator for Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, N2.3 billion.
Ahmad Sirika, was said to have been paid N3.2 billion out of the total N8.6 billion total contract sum, which the EFCC , investigators had confirmed was transferred to different Companies and individuals. There are indications that no trace of work had been done on any of contract items by he former Aviation minister’s brother till date.
Many believe that that there were several worst cases of frau in other ministries other than the ministers of Aviation, Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation , during the Buhari’s regime. TThis may have informe why the Nigerian President has come up hard on the ministers and other political appointees linked with any trace of fraud in his government.
