The immediate-past governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar,
has said he only approved the transfer of N8.9bn and not N19.9bn
from the state government’s account two days to his handover on May
29, 2019.
In a court document seen by The PUNCH on Sunday, Abubakar said
the N8.9bn he approved was not for laundering as alleged by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission but for contractors
engaged by the state government under his watch to construct some
Federal Government roads worth N14.6bn in the state.
But the EFCC has faulted the ex-governor’s claim, stating that
about 20 cheques issued for overdrawing money from the state
government’s account were in the name of “the bank manager” and not
contractors.
It added that many of the contracts listed in the schedule of
payment were not executed.
Abubakar had made the fresh claims in an application he filed
before the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to be joined as a
party to an EFCC’s suit which requested the freezing of the Bauchi
State Government’s account with First City Monument Bank.
The anti-graft agency had prayed the court to order the freezing
of the account to enable it to investigate Abubakar whom it accused
of overdrawing as much as N19.9bn from the FCMB account in the
twilight of his administration as governor.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja granted
EFCC’s request for the freezing of the FCMB account on August
5.
Abubakar, on August 16, filed an application to be joined in the
suit.
An affidavit filed in support of Abubakar’s application stated,
“Further to the above depositions hereof and in specific response
to paragraph 4, it is not true that the Bauchi State Government
under my watch initiated any process of overdrawing the account to
launder the sum of N19,897,809.08.
“Illustrative of the falsity of the respondent/applicant said
assertion is the schedule of payment herein attached as Exhibit MAA
2 which put the total sum to be paid to creditors at
N8,901,002,855.83.”
The EFCC had said it received an intelligence showing that
between May 24 and 28, 2019, Abubakar, the then outgoing governor
of Bauchi State, “initiated a process of overdrawing to launder the
sum of N19,897,809,334.08” in the state government’s FCMB
account.
Justice Taiwo on August 5, 2019 granted EFCC’s request to freeze
the state government’s account, and ordered the Bauchi State
Government and the bank to justify their interest in the balance in
the account within 21 days.
Neither the Bauchi State Government nor the First City Monument
Bank Plc, the custodian of the account, has filed any processes to
oppose the freezing order as of the last hearing in the case.
But in response, Abubakar, through his lawyer, Muritala
Abdul-Rasheed, filed an application seeking to be joined as a party
to the suit.
The affidavit filed in support of the application was deposed to
on behalf of Abubakar by Olamilekan Adebayo, a litigation assistant
in the law firm of the ex-governor’s lawyer.
The affidavit stated that the N14.6bn expended on the Federal
Government’s infrastructural projects by the state government was
to be refunded through promissory note approved by the National
Assembly.
It noted that the National Assembly’s approval only came on May
23, 2019 and other procedures involving the Minister of Finance
further delayed the payment to the state government.
It added, “The entire process was concluded on May 27, 2019 (two
days to the transition to the new administration) on which day the
money dropped in Bauchi State Government Operational account number
0998552074 domiciled at First City Monument Bank.
“With the assurance that value will be received, the
Accountant-General prepared a schedule of payment and issued
instruments for sundry payments totaling N8,901,002,855.83 which
payment was approved by the outgoing State Executive Council under
my watch as the Executive Governor.”
Meanwhile, the EFCC, through its lawyer, Abubakar Aliyu, opposed
the ex-governor’s request to be joined in the suit, insisting that
the claims in his affidavit “are not in good faith”.
Faulting the ex-governor’s claim that the money drawn from the
FCMB account was for contractors, the EFCC stated in its
counter-affidavit, “The Exhibits EFCC 1 – 20 attached to our motion
ex parte are the First City Monument Bank cheques issued in the
name of the manager instead of contractors overdrawing the
funds.”
It also said that its investigations so far had shown that “many
contracts contained in the schedule for payments (Exhibit MAA2) are
not executed”.
Insisting that there was no justifiable reason for the former
governor to be joined in the suit, the commission stated that “the
applicant (the ex-governor) cannot be personally affected directly
or indirectly by the outcome of the suit, the Bauchi State
resources are not his personal assets”.
The case came up before Justice Nkeonye Maha, sitting as a
vacation judge, on September 3 for hearing, but the judge
transferred it to Justice Taiwo who issued the order for the
freezing of the account on August 5.
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