Podium ReportersPodium Reporters
  • Home
  • News
  • Economy
    • Global
    • Nigerian
  • Education
  • Politics
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Europe
    • Finance
    • Nigeria
    • US & Canada
    • World
  • Science
    • Health
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
      • Comedy
      • Ent & Arts
      • Film & Drama
      • Music
      • videos
    • Homes
    • Luxury
    • Media & Culture
  • Sports
  • Others
    • About us
    • Get In Touch
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • Why are you afraid to use your UNN certificate, Labour Party queries Obi
  • Help African nations stop scavengers taking our mineral wealth illegally to wealthy economies – Tinubu appeals to Guterres
  • David Hundeyin: An Obsessed Conartist Desperately Begging to be Persecuted
  • Minimum Wage: President Bola Tinubu to unveil a new minimum wage proposal next week
  • Dangote Refinery set to receive first crude oil cargo in two weeks; targets November for PMS refining
  • Tinubunomics and the Expectations of Economic Re-engineering (Part 1)
  • Bangladesh: Peter Obi, SMEs and his Anambra Scorecard
  • Ag. FIRS Boss resumes office, targets to raise tax-to-GDP ratio from 10.86% to 18% in three years
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Thursday, September 21
Podium ReportersPodium Reporters
Demo
  • Home
  • News
  • Economy
    • Global
    • Nigerian
  • Education
  • Politics
    1. Asia
    2. Africa
    3. Europe
    4. Finance
    5. Nigeria
    6. US & Canada
    7. World
    8. View All

    Aregbesola Champions Easier Path to Naturalisation, Announces Brown Card For Permanent Residency 

    28 May 2023

    FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU

    29 May 2023

    The ARC-P: Everything you need to know.

    28 April 2023

    ISWAP KINGPINS ALI KWAYA, BUKAR MAINOKA AND OTHERS NEUTRALIZED IN NAF AIR STRIKES AT BELOWA NEAR LAKE CHAD

    7 November 2022

    End of the road for Odinga as Supreme Court affirms Ruto’s victory

    5 September 2022

    Breaking: Queen Elizabeth II is dead

    8 September 2022

    Tinubu approves CBN’s plan to address forex market volatility

    14 August 2023

    Naira redesign to have positive impact on the economy – Experts

    27 October 2022

    FG will stop paying petrol subsidy June 2023 – Minister

    22 August 2022

    Exposed: Real Reasons Some Senators Are Plotting Akpabio’s Ouster.

    18 September 2023

    UAE Visa ban on Nigerians lifted after President Tinubu’s intervention

    11 September 2023

    Come back to Nigeria, I have restructured the business environment; President Tinubu tells Volkswagen, other investors.

    11 September 2023

    Nigeria ready to play vital role within G20 – President Tinubu

    9 September 2023

    Ogun Amotekun arrest man with bloodstained pants

    13 October 2022

    BREAKING NEWS: Wagner Boss Yevgeny Prigozhin Feared Dead in a Plane Crash North of Moscow

    23 August 2023

    UNGA77: I’ll leave behind credible election in 2023 – Buhari 

    22 September 2022

    Buhari pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth II

    9 September 2022

    Why are you afraid to use your UNN certificate, Labour Party queries Obi

    21 September 2023

    David Hundeyin: An Obsessed Conartist Desperately Begging to be Persecuted

    21 September 2023

    Minimum Wage: President Bola Tinubu to unveil a new minimum wage proposal next week

    20 September 2023

    Bangladesh: Peter Obi, SMEs and his Anambra Scorecard

    19 September 2023
  • Science
    1. Health
    2. View All

    Kogi Reference Hospital: Yahaya Bello’s Pure Genius

    28 April 2022

    Kwara hosts 22 APC States’ meeting on improving healthcare access

    26 August 2021

    Distinction: Sanwo-Olu Gets A+ Rating In Covid-19, Security, Infrastructure – Report

    10 August 2021

    Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s Coronavirus Press Statement

    11 July 2021

    FG to establish MSME tech hubs in seven states to empower one million youths  

    6 August 2023

    Tinubu’s nomination of CCHub’s Tijani sparks excitement in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem

    3 August 2023

    FACT CHECK: Video of Elon Musk endorsing Obi fake, part of dangerous disinformation campaign

    31 August 2022

    Metaverse ecosystem market to hit $2t by 2030

    3 August 2022
  • Lifestyle
    1. Entertainment
    2. Comedy
    3. Ent & Arts
    4. Film & Drama
    5. Music
    6. videos
    7. Homes
    8. Luxury
    9. Media & Culture
    10. View All

    UAE Visa ban on Nigerians lifted after President Tinubu’s intervention

    11 September 2023

    Understanding the Emotional Tapestry: A Path to a Prosperous Nigeria Under President Tinubu by Gbenga Olorunpomi.

    7 September 2023

    Artificial Intelligence in deepening your Business branding: Tomorrow’s Business is now

    14 August 2023

    Tiktoker bags three-year jail term for cyberstalking, defaming Eniola Badmus

    2 August 2023

    Photos: Banky W, Adesua finally reveal son

    17 September 2022

    Renewed Hope Concert puts Nigeria in celebratory mood as excited youths look forward to Tinubu’s swearing-in

    26 May 2023

    SSANU, NASU call off strike after meeting with FG

    20 August 2022

    Sanwo-Olu Inspects 1,188-unit Sangotedo Housing Project, Sets Deadlines for Commissioning

    17 September 2021

    Did you know? – Perfumery edition

    10 August 2022

    Do You Know Who Wore the First Lipstick?

    10 August 2022

    ‘Nothing can shake Tinubu’s presidency’, Youths in high hopes after thrilling ‘Renewed Hope’ concert

    26 May 2023

    Nigerian chef, Hilda Baci breaks Guinness World Record for ‘longest cooking time’

    15 May 2023

    ‘Gangs of Lagos’, mockery, misrepresentation of our heritage — Lagos govt fumes 

    13 April 2023

    Nigeria’s database increased by 150% in three years, Pantami recounts success of NIM

    17 September 2022

    Exposed: Real Reasons Some Senators Are Plotting Akpabio’s Ouster.

    18 September 2023

    UAE Visa ban on Nigerians lifted after President Tinubu’s intervention

    11 September 2023

    Understanding the Emotional Tapestry: A Path to a Prosperous Nigeria Under President Tinubu by Gbenga Olorunpomi.

    7 September 2023

    Navigating Challenges, Inspiring Change: The Strategy Behind Ahmed Usman-Ododo’s Kogi State Guber Ambition

    4 September 2023
  • Sports
  • Others
    • About us
    • Get In Touch
Podium ReportersPodium Reporters
Home » News » The Sarakis’ compulsive looting of Kwara State.
News

The Sarakis’ compulsive looting of Kwara State.

By Matthew19 September 2022No Comments18 Views6 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Reddit WhatsApp

By Ibrahim Salihu

The latest revelation by a forensic audit report of SSAC and Professionals on the looting of Kwara treasury to the tune of at least N11.9bn between 2011 and 2019 is mind-boggling. However, it only strengthens what we have always known that Bukola Saraki and his handpicked successor AbdulFatah Ahmed ran some of the most corrupt governments in Nigeria and even on the continent.

More disturbing in the whole of the report which the auditors also pointed out to was the N2bn cash withdrawals that were not tied to any project or official expenditure made in February 2019, barely a month to the last general election. That’s shocking. What manner of compulsive looting is this?

The auditors while presenting the report to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Thursday, September 1, 2022, said they placed spotlight on Internally Generated Revenue, Capital Receipts, Internal and External Loans, Recurrent/Overhead Expenditure, Personnel Cost, Kwara State Internal Revenue Service, Infrastructural Fund Kwara, Harmony Holdings Limited, amongst others.

For me, the report didn’t really come as a surprise. Like I pointed out, it only confirmed what I, and majority of Kwarans, have always known the Sarakis for: compulsive looting. It was a similar compulsive looting and impunity that ran the Societe Generale Bank aground in the past. Same compulsive looting made Bukola Saraki’s name appear in the Panama Papers where certain Nigerian officials were fingered as having undisclosed properties offshores. But like some people do argue, the law could always be an ass. This perhaps is why we still have elements like Bukola Saraki, AbdulFatah Ahmed and their cronies, with a soiled reputation and mind-boggling acts of corruption and impunity tied to their names still appearing in the political scene of the country. It’s even the height of shamelessness that the image maker of the Kwara Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a man still standing trial in court on abuse of office, diversion of public funds, misappropriation, among other financial crimes.

I must however commend the efforts put into this investigation and audit by SSAC and Professionals. It’s a whole lot. The Sarakis are almost perfect when we talk about corruption and looting. They create unnecessary ambiguities, tuck away documents, engage fronters, and package all their dubious and shady dealings. On the other hand however, there are always one or two avenues for exposure. This is perhaps why the audit firm is able to track them down on all they’ve highlighted in the report. Many others may exist. Theirs were a government of compulsive looting.

Despite their claims to no wrongdoing, a series of events have proven that the Sarakis were an unconscionable and corruption-infested elements. Do you know how much recoveries the EFCC had made from the compulsive looting by past administrators in Kwara? Yet they come out to say they did no wrong. The EFCC had made hundreds of millions naira of recovery in funds. If assets are added to it, the recovery from the mind-boggling looting of the Sarakis would value billions of naira. In December 2019, N70 million was refunded to the Kwara State Government being looted funds recovered by the EFCC. Yet, no looting. Fast forward to March 2020, the huge sum of N263 million was again recovered by EFCC as part of monies looted by previous officials. And they say they didn’t steal from Kwara treasury. In August 2020, another N130 million naira was recovered. Where are all these monies coming from? Most of these monies were siphoned through KWIRS and the local governments.

There are enough instances to authenticate the audit report. For instance, Wahab Oba, the self-impossd media spokesperson to Yaman Abdullahi, PDP guber candidate, was running his mouth on Harmony Holdings in one of his last outings. Harmony Holdings Limited was also one of the organisations investigated by the auditors. The current MD of Harmony Holdings has always said on radio that the previous government borrowed N4bn from bank to set up the organisation, but only a meagre N400 million or thereabouts was handed over to the previous directors of the company. Who accounts for the balance? Did it develop wings? That betrayal of public trust also encouraged the directors to mismanage the little amount given to them. After all, what moral authority does the government that was silent on over N3bn have? Look at what Bukola Saraki also did with Shonga Farms. After investing a chunk of public funds in it, he turned back to dash it out to private persons from Zimbabwe who made no financial contributions to the project. What have Kwara people benefitted from the project other than the mounting of debts? The same case it was for Kwara Mall where public funds were sunk into it, only for Sarakis to dash it out to a private player. Despite voting billions of naira for the establishment of a trailer park in the bond he got, Saraki failed to deliver the project. The Metropolitan Square which is part of the projects they make noise about was not completed. Ahmed voted billions of naira to fix water; yet tankers were used to distribute water in Ilorin metropolis and most of our waterworks were ineffective. What happened to all these monies? Where is Yomi Ogunshola, the KP3 man? He has been running away from justice. There are mind-blowing allegations of corruption and abuse of office against him.

That Saraki and his co-travellers have not been convicted does not necessarily mean they did not commit these wrongs. Our judicial process is still a growing one. In fact, some times, it takes years before guilt is established and conviction is made. These people have also been emboldened because Governor AbdulRazaq doesn’t play bitter politics. If he was a bitter man, Saraki and his people will not have the effrontery to come in and out of Ilorin as they do, with these damning allegations of looting against them. But then the Bukola Sarakis and AbdulFatah Ahmeds of this world should not think the arm of the law could not catch up with them one day. N11.9 billion naira between 2011 and 2019 shows meanness against state. They made deliberate efforts to sink the state, and it is evident in how Kwara in their days hugged the headlines of negative things. They failed across sectors (education, health, civil service, water, etc). They were stealing the future of Kwara. The state was collapsing while they were living large. This among other reason is why Kwarans in a loud voice and popular decision sent them packing in 2019. They must never return to power. As the current government files various criminal charges against them, we hope the arm of the law will catch up with them soonest.

 

Ibrahim writes from Tsonga.

audit finance forensic audit kwara
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Telegram Email WhatsApp

Related Posts

04 Views

Why are you afraid to use your UNN certificate, Labour Party queries Obi

21 September 20233 Mins Read
04 Views

Help African nations stop scavengers taking our mineral wealth illegally to wealthy economies – Tinubu appeals to Guterres

21 September 20234 Mins Read
0148 Views

David Hundeyin: An Obsessed Conartist Desperately Begging to be Persecuted

21 September 20236 Mins Read
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

© 2023 The Podium Reporters. Designed by Marvelworx Limited.
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Science
  • Sports

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.