By Our Reporter
… Insists recovery of looted funds very necessary
…Warns Against Elrufai’s interference
Kaduna Based development monitoring group under aegis of Forum for Good Governance (FFGG) has backed the arrest of former Kaduna State Commissioner of Finance and Local Government, Mohammed Bashir Sa’idu over allegations of money laundering, criminal breach of trust, and misappropriation of public funds.
The former Commissioner,who served under Governor Nasir Elrufai’s administration was arrested following a petition,where he was accused of laundering N3.96 billion and misappropriating N244 million between 2015 and 2023.
In a statement made available to journalists today, the Forum for Good Governance in Kaduna said there was nothing wrong with his arrest , especially when the issue revolves around looting of public funds.
The group in the Statement signed by Hon. Ahmadu Ibrahim Kauru warned against any attempt by Elrufai to interfere with the process must be resisted vehemently. Recalled that same Elrufai never had respect for rule of law when he was Governor.
We gathered that Elrufai in his days as Governor arrested and detained innocent journalists several and media practitioners such as; Luka Binniyat of Vanguard Newspapers ,Jacob Dickson of Authentic Newspaper , Stephen Kefas and Gabriel Idibia and nobody dated challenged him.
While noting that recovery of looted funds is very necessary now that Kaduna state is highly indebted,the Forum insisted that ,” His arrest must not be politicised because we all know that once an agency arrest an individual for looting of public funds or financial crime,it is in order.
The statement further reads: Allegations such as misappropriation of funds, sale of $45 million in state-owned foreign currency at an undervalued exchange rate of N410 per dollar, instead of the parallel market rate of N498 per dollar, causing a loss of over N3.96 billion to the government.
“Additionally, he is accused of failing to account for proceeds from the sale of government houses in Marafa Estate, Kaduna, amounting to approximately N244 million.
“We gathered from reports that the Kaduna State House of Assembly previously investigated Sa’idu’s financial dealings and forwarded its findings to anti-corruption agencies, including the EFCC and ICPC.
“We are happy that the police confirmed his arrest was not politically motivated but, followed by credible allegations of financial crimes and will remain in detention as investigations continue.”
