The Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has accused his predecessor, Mohammed Abubakar, of spending a whopping sum of N2.3 billion to buy shroud (likkafani) and decking wood used in grave (iccen kabari) for Muslim burials in the state.
In an interview with journalists in Bauchi at the weekend, the governor’s spokesman, Ladan Salihu, alleged that the said funds were spent between January and May 2019.
Salihu explained that over N900 million of the money was spent in buying Muslim shroud, a white cloth used for wrapping dead bodies, while over N1.4 billion was used to buy the wood for decking graves during burial.
He said the government discovered various issues of corruption and daylight robbery of the commonwealth of Bauchi State, alleging that billions of naira were siphoned illegally.
“These monies which ought to have been appropriated by the Assembly before expenditure, (but) all of a sudden emanated from our treasury books,” the governor’s spokesman said.
“How could you imagine that a state government, within five months that is between January and May, 2019, spent well over N2.3 billion on funeral materials, the clothes that are used in wrapping dead bodies and the woods that you lace the graveyards with?
“The immediate past government spent N2.3 billion, that government did not spend a quarter of that amount in our own hospitals and clinics. They have the temerity to want to put up a show of shame.
“All these are captured in the report of the Transition Committee and these were gathered from documents and vouchers and payments made from our treasury books. There is the Freedom of Information law, go there and find out for yourself from those documents.
“We are talking about the principle behind it. You have bought these materials for funerals in graveyards, what have you done to the Christian cemetery? But we are saying that it is wrong completely, it is not the duty of government to buy burial materials for anybody.
“It is the responsibility of the family, the community and people of goodwill. It has never existed in our history books that the government bought those materials in the first place.
“So, you know that these things were bought for a reason, you would not see the materials, because they have disappeared into or out of ballot boxes.
“Government will take very, very stern measures, we will recover every kobo that has been looted or stolen by the immediate past administration and in fact, the administration before it. Where it is established that there is a clear case of misappropriation or outright stealing of public funds. It is an obligation, you don’t allow criminality to run roughshod on the rest of us because these are public funds.
“We must take steps, there’s no factor of fear or favour or ill will, it is just the way the business of government must be conducted. We will take every measure, we use every institution and go after everyone that has stolen Bauchi State’s money.
“We will pursue this case in the relevant institutions of recovery whether it is EFCC, ICPC, the constitution of a Special Recovery Mechanism within the state, I can assure you, we will pursue these issues vigorously, rigorously and without let,” he added.
Responding to the allegations, spokesman for the former governor, Ali Ali, dismissed the allegations as laughable.
“That is very ridiculous, I cannot make further comments on the issue because I am not aware of such allegation,” he told Tribune on phone.
“I’ve not heard of anything like that, so I will speak on it when I make my findings but this is laughable. I will get back to you on that when I have done my findings from my principal.”
