A review of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) records has revealed that 3 past governors from the northwest region of Nigeria may have plundered over N316 billion (316,350,000,000) while governing their respective states between 2007 and 2019.
One of the ex-governors, Abdulaziz Yari’s alleged 300 billion naira loot exceeds the total internally generated revenue (IGR) of all the northwestern states of Nigeria in 2020. His alleged loot also comes close to five times his states’ internally generated revenue (IGR) for 10 years.
The 300 billion stolen funds from Zamfara state alone surpasses an accumulated 10-year IGR of Kano state, of Kaduna state, as well as the other five less economically viable states in the northwest region.
The three accused governors, who are from Zamfara, Sokoto, and Jigawa states, are currently facing lawsuits on corruption, diversion/embezzlement of public funds among other criminal charges. The EFCC’s prosecution of these three gentlemen comes at a time the anti-corruption agency is investigating a distinguished Senator, Rochas Okorocha, who is the immediate past governor of Imo State.
Several newspapers reported the arrest of Mr. Okorocha by the EFCC last month. The All Progressive Congress (APC) party stalwart was held for two days by the anti-corruption agency. The result of his cross-examination has not been made public yet. The Senator is currently representing Imo West senatorial district of Imo State, southeast Nigeria.
Before Mr. Okorocha’s interrogation by the EFCC, the agency had accused Abdulaziz Yari, who governed Zamfara state under the ANPP/APC, of embezzling N300 billion. This amounts to 95% of the total money the EFCC believes was stolen by former governors in Nigeria’s northwest region.
Two PDP ex-governors, Aliyu Wammako of Sokoto and Sule Lamido of Jigawa, were also accused of defrauding their state to the tune of N15 billion and N1.35billion, respectively, estimated at 5% of the reported stolen funds in the northwest region.
Abdulaziz Yari’s alleged loot ranks equally with his northeast counterpart, Alimodu Sheriff. Both are suspected to have stolen the largest state funds of N300 billion each.
Amount the EFCC alleged 30 ex-governors in Nigeria stole (N’ billion)
The EFCC has not successfully secured the conviction of any of the three northwest ex-governors. Meanwhile, they continue to hold and vie for new political positions in the country.
These are the details of their criminal cases:
Abdulaziz Yari
In a court document filed in 2017, EFCC stated that it received intelligence in January 2017 alleging “conspiracy, criminal misappropriation of public funds involving the sum of N19,439,225,871.11 out of the Paris Club refunds made by the Federal Government in favour of the 36 states of the federation”.
The commission had in the court filing, sought an order of forfeiture of N500 million and $500,000 allegedly recovered from Mr Yari.
January 26, 2021, the Federal High Court, Abuja had ordered the final forfeiture of funds belonging to Yari, domiciled in Zenith and Polaris Banks.
While $56, 056.75 was lodged in Polaris Bank account, the sums of N12.9 million, N11.2 million, $301, 319.99; N217, 388.04 and $311, 872.15 were kept in different Zenith Bank accounts in the name of Mr Yari and his companies.
In February 2021, Yari faced a long interrogation session with detectives at the Lagos office of the EFCC over an alleged attempt to illegally move N300 billion from a corporate account in a new generation bank.
On April 20th, 2021 local papers reported that the EFCC interrogated Abdulaziz Yari and was held at the Sokoto office of the anti-graft agency for eight hours over alleged illegal financial dealings and misappropriation of funds.
Sule Lamido
Lamido was said to have allegedly abused his position as governor of Jigawa state between 2007 and 2015 by awarding contracts to companies where he had interest, using his two sons as fronts to the tune of N1.35bn.
The former governor was equally alleged to have collected kickbacks from contractors in the state, with the funds allegedly paid into accounts that were managed by his sons.
On 18 March 2021, a witness of the EFCC, Michael Wetkas, demonstrated to the Court how the defendants used their companies to receive several payments suspected to be kickbacks from contractors for contracts that were masked as sub-contracts while Lamido was governor.
But Justice Ojukwu adjourned the matter till May 19 and 20, 2021 for cross-examination of the witness.
Aliyu Wammako
Aliyu Magatakarda Wammako was governor in Sokoto State from 2007 to 2015 but was alleged by the EFCC to have embezzled N15 billion while in office.
The senator, who is the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, is an APC ally and he played a key role in President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign in Sokoto State in the 2019 elections.
Nigeria’s northwest: A region prone to terror
The North West region with an estimated population of 41.8 million people, covers 7 states with a land mass of 216, 065 km. But over the years, people in the region have had to put up with high rates of abductions and killings.
The large uninhabited expanse of land in the region currently serves as hideouts for various kinds of criminals.
Various factors contribute to the high rate of criminality in the region. According to Action on Armed Violence, Nigeria’s northwest has the second highest rate in the country of male respondents who reported having no educational attainment whatsoever (at 48.8%) and the highest rates of female respondents reporting they had no educational attainment (at 67.5%).
The northwest states of Jigawa and Sokoto have the two highest rates of absolute poverty in the country (at 88.5 and 86.1 respectively). Many factories in the region (particularly in Kano) are either closed down or operating at loss – leaving many youths unemployed and vulnerable to violence.
Brookings, an American research group, also noted that northwestern Nigeria has become an haven for increasingly active terrorist groups, including the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS); Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM); Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb; a splinter of Boko Haram popularly referred to as the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP); and the Fulani herdsmen of West Africa once rated the fourth-deadliest terror group in the world.
Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS) also noted that by March 2020, more than 210,000 people have been internally displaced in the Northwest region. More than 35,000 refugees have crossed communal borders to Maradi in Niger Republic by the beginning of March 2020. These refugees are hosted in Madaou in Tahoua region, Dan Dadji Makaou, Garin Kaka and Guidan Roumdji.
Nigeria’s northwest region, with an infant mortality rate of 91 (compared to the national average of 87) among many other poor and negative socioeconomic indices, requires functional governments and forthright governors who can reverse the manifold miseries of the majority of its people.