By MUHAMMAD HAMISU ABDULLAHI
ECONOMIC and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman,
Malam Nuhu Ribadu has revealed that no Kano state government official has
been found to have breached any law in the recent N4 billion fertilizer scam
by his commission.
Malam Ribadu who made the revelation in a chat with Hausa
Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) monitored in
Kano said all contract procedures were duly followed in the fertilizer
issue.
The EFCC chairman who reiterated that no Kano state
government functionaries were found breaching any law in the contract, sworn
to Allah that his commission did not find anybody among government officials
guilty in the scam.
�I can swear by Allah that no Kano state government
functionary was found breaching any law. Up to this moment, we have not
found any misconduct in the contract deal from a Kano government official,�
Malam Ribado stated.
He further testified that over N1 billion had been
recovered by his commission out of the N2 billion paid to the contractors,
Cino-Afrik Company.
According to documents made available to his commission
by the Kano state government, he said, the fertilizer contract is worth N4
billion and that half of the money was paid over one year ago but no
fertilizer was supplied by the contractor.
Malam Ribadu who said his commission had already arrested
the contractor, explained that their discovery indicated again that before
the contract was entered into, proper channels were followed.
He said it was noted that the contractor was asked by the
Kano state government to present a guarantee from an insurance company which
he did, he added, saying since due process was followed the blame may not
necessarily be put on the person issuing out the contract.
What the state government wanted, Malam Ribadu said, was
the supply of the fertilizer through which government has the right to award
a contract, he further explained.
Part of the commission�s investigation was the fact that
the contractor had agreed and promised to make the commodity available after
a stipulated time, but up till now has been unable to do so.
He said they were made to understand that government,
having waited for over a year for the consignment, had decided to write to
the contractor to give reasons for their inability to meet the deadline, but
which they failed to do.
After this, he said, the state government then decided to
revoke the contract and asked the contractor to refund the money.
This is in order, Malam Ribadu said, because it is only
when the contractor fails to refund the money will be charged to court,
reiterating that the money must be refunded to the state government.
He also revealed that as investigation is on by his
commission, anybody found to have been involved in the scam, no matter how
placed, would be charged to court, while all findings related to the matter
would be made public.
As the matter is now before his commission, he further affirmed, by
Allah�s grace, they will recover all the money from the contractor.
