A fresh report from the Kaduna State House of Assembly, sent to the State Government, has revealed how former governor, Nasir el-Rufa’i,‘s borrowing and spending spree left the State with a colossal debt burden.
The final report of the Assembly’s Ad-hoc Committee set up to investigate the tenure of the ex-Governor accused the former governor of several corrupt practices.
In the 175-page report submitted to Governor Uba Sani on Thursday, the lawmakers accuse the ex-governor of syphoning billions of Naira through proxy companies and individuals.
Under “General findings on all MDAs” of the report, the lawmakers said the sum of N11.8 billion was paid to the account of two individuals under the guise of a joint venture for the proposed Kaduna Light Rail project, said to be a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.
The report says the transaction was authorised by the office of the governor and the Commissioner for Finance, in a move described as “possible diversion of funds through individual bank accounts.
“Per the committee review of Indo Kaduna MRTS JV, a joint venture for the proposed Kaduna Light Rail project, in a public-private partnership with Skipper Nig. Ltd.
“Funds were transferred to two (2) individual account as follows: Nuren Mumeen Damola – 10,899,300,000 and Uzosike Chinedu – 188,380,906.76; 11,087,680,906.76”, the report further reads.
?It has been 6 years now since when N11.8 billion was removed, with no metro train service in Kaduna.
The report also accused el-Rufa’i of further diversion of N18 billion of State funds through the registration of a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Indo Kaduna.
“The committee noted that the whole idea of registering an SPV was unclear and misnomer, and out of sync with the industry practice. A further significant concern is that Kaduna State Government was not represented in the company by way of share allotment and directorship.
“The lead company allotted 99.99% of the company’s shareholding to an unknown entity i.e Indo Kaduna MRT Private Ltd. Additionally, Kaduna State Government is not represented in the JV company i.e Indo Kaduna MRTS JV Ltd.”, it stated.
According to a report on Friday, a committee member tasked with probing the former government’s actions shared findings following Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani’s complaints about the State’s overwhelming debt, hampering governance.
The chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Henry Zacharia, who also serves as the Deputy Speaker of the House, described el-Rufai’s actions as ‘reckless’ and ‘a display of financial malpractice unprecedented in the State’.
The 175-page report stated that from 1965 to December 31, 2014, the total foreign loans documented in the State’s handover note amounted to $234 million, prior to el-Rufa’i assuming office in 2015. However, upon assuming office, the former FCT minister inherited a situation whereby all domestic loans had been settled, as indicated in the signed handover notes by both outgoing and incoming Governors.
The reports highlighted that el-Rufa’i inherited ?34 billion; however, between May 2015 and May 2023, the administration borrowed ?98.912 billion and $758,141,699 million in local and foreign loans, respectively.
The committee flagged instances of improper loan procurement and misuse, revealing that the administration’s revenue, comprising loans, Federal Allocation (FAAC), internally-generated revenue (IGR), grants, refunds, and interventions, which totalled ?1,497,682,993.375 and $758,141,699.
The report accused el-Rufa’i of using “unauthorised Debit cards” to withdraw “through 3rd parties, the sum of ?721,672,854.88 from the Internally-Generated Revenue Account of the State”.
According to the committee, El-Rufa’i through “the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS) siphoned the sum of ?30,000,000,000.00 from the Internally-Generated Revenue account of the State”.
It reported that from May 29, 2015, to May 29, 2023, ?510,407,166,975.39 worth of contracts were awarded, out of which only ?198,921,880,169.04 was paid to contractors.
The committee said “the total contractual liabilities found by the Committee as at 29th May, 2023 stand at the sum of N311,485,286,806.35 and $26,284,595.53 (USD) respectively.”
While explaining that “the public liability (Gratuity and Pension) as at 29th May, 2023 stood at ?23,993,700,494.91,” it said “the Liability of the Kaduna State Government to the Consultants engaged between 29th May, 2015 and 29th May, 2023 is ?602,026,388.55”.
The committee accused El-Rufai of using the Commissioner of Finance and Accountant-General to withdraw ?4,936,916,333.00 and $1.4 million respectively. It added that “the total amount of money syphoned by the Government of Kaduna State from 29th May, 2015 to 29th May, 2023 is ?423,115,028,072.88”.
The report also accused el-Rufa’i of “gross violation of governance” by giving authority to individuals who were not government officials.
The committee noted that “during the previous administration that certain individuals dominated the State affairs, such as Jimmy Lawal who served as senior counsellor to the Governor. He gives approvals and all other government officials report to him for approvals despite the fact that he was not holding any Constitutionally-recognised position.
“He also brought in several companies/contractors to the State, amongst which include Skippers Nigeria Ltd. These companies were fronts of the Senior Adviser-Counsellor which he used to defraud the State“.
El-Rufa’i was also accused of using Jimmy Lawal to procure “unethical and unjustified loan facility, resulting to additional debt burden to the State. It was noted, that the Council approved a loan facility of 7.5 billion to judiciously finance the KSPL JV Project.
“The facility was initially agreed to be obtained from Zenith Bank Plc, but there was a change of decision to rather take the loan from United Bank of Africa, (UBA), whose interest rate was higher than that of Zenith by 2%, which resulted to over N600 million interest rates.
?Additionally, it was gathered that the decision to obtained the loan was solely influence and negotiated by the Senior councillor to the Governor – Jimi Lawal”.
?Meanwhile, the former governor has vehemently denounced the recent probe by the State House of Assembly into his administration as a politically motivated attack.
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