The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Sokoto Zonal Office has commenced the probe of over 200b naira worth of contracts during the administration of the immediate past Governor Abdulaziz Yari, in Zamfara State.
The Zonal Head of the Commission, Abdullahi Lawal, disclosed this while handing over nothing less than 53 tricycles, also known as Keke NAPEP recovered from a contractor to the officials of Zamfara state government in Sokoto.
The Zonal Head of the commission which includes Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara, disclosed that the commission recovers the items from the contractor who refused to hand over the same to state government.
According to him, “this office is currently investigating over sixty (60) cases from Zamfara State in relation to the past administration.
“These include cases against individuals, public and private corporate organizations as well as government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“The amount involved is over 200b naira, several bank accounts connected to fraudulent activities in regards to this investigation, have been frozen by the Commission.
“We are here to handover to Zamfara State Government is the result of a painstaking and diligent investigation that led to the recovery of these fifty-three (53) Keke NAPEP tricycles from a contractor.
“We are carrying out a clinical investigation into the activities of the last administration and we want to assure you and the people of Zamfara State that the commission will not relent on its oars to prosecute anyone found culpable.
“It is also on the note that several contractors who have abandoned their projects after receiving billions of naira have mobilised back to sites in the state as a result of this investigation”
The Commission, however, used the opportunity to call on contractors who have collected payments and yet to commence, complete or handover projects to urgently mobilize back to site in their own interests.
He disclosed that the Commission will embark on project monitoring and evaluation in collaboration with experts from Federal Ministry of Works and Housing as well as Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), to ascertain the quality of the job.
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Responding, the Secretary to the Zamfara State Government (SSG), Alhaji Bala Bello Maru, who represented the Governor, Hon. Bello Matawalle, commended the efforts of the Commission on the recovery.
He said, “I commend the efforts of the EFCC in this zone and the country at large, for what it has been achieved for Zamfara State and Nigeria as a country.
“On behalf of the Governor of Zamfara state and the entire citizens of the state, we appreciate the effort of the EFCC and promise to continue to cooperate with them in whatever means to unravel all the corruption cases ongoing in Zamfara.
“We are also promising to involve the Commission on the distribution of these recovered items by furnishing them with names and contact of the beneficiaries, as well as witnessing the process of its distribution” he added.
The Secretary to the State Government further assured the Commission of the total cooperation of government officials to able to help in the process of investigation of the cases of corruption arising from past administration in the state.
He disclosed that a total sum over two hundred billion naira (200b), petitions have been established against the immediate past administration in the state while others are still under investigation.
He maintained that the state government will use all legal means to recovered every Kobo related to corruption in the state.
Meanwhile, the Zonal Head of the EFCC in the zone has called for the continuous cooperation of the general public not to hesitate to feed the commission with vital information on corrupt practises going on in MDAs, private sectors as well as Public Officers living about their means.
He disclosed that the whistleblowing policy of the Federal Government is still very much in place, calling on the general public to take advantage of it.
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