Sakkwato Birnin Shehu OPEN LETTER TO ALIYU MAGATAKARDA WAMAKKO, GOVERNOR, SOKOTO STATE BY ALHAJI (DR.) ATTAHIRU DALHATU BAFARAWA (GARKUWAN SOKOTO) Long before the inception of your administration, I have tried not to join issues with you on any platform, either in politics or in government. As part of my efforts to play the role of an elder, I invited you for a meeting immediately you were declared as Governor-elect of Sokoto State after April, 2007 election. I sent the then Head of Service to invite you for a meeting in preparation for the handing over. You accepted the invitation and suggested that I should go ahead and fix the date, time and venue. I called you on phone where we both agreed on the date and time for the meeting. 2. To my surprise, however, you sent the Head of Service to me just two hours to the time of the meeting to inform me about your change of mind not to attend the meeting. I got worried because of the importance of the meeting to both of us and the State. I thought it was highly imperative for us to meet as the outgoing and incoming Governors in order to create opportunity for you to ask questions on various issues that border on the governance of Sokoto State and in particular issues raised in my handing over notes to you. I went the extra mile to send people to you to persuade you to attend the meeting which you deliberately failed to honour. The Commissioner of Police, the State Director, State Security Services and the Brigade Commander of that time were among people I sent to you to convince you to attend the meeting which you failed to honour. You decided to misuse that opportunity for the sake of your self-serving agenda. 3. However, immediately after you were sworn in as the Governor, you did not even leave the venue of the event when you alleged that I did not even leave the N12 billion in the State coffers as claimed in my handing over note. On hearing your allegation, I sent a letter to the EFCC to freeze the State Accounts in order for them to investigate and find out who was telling the truth. It took the EFCC almost two years without responding to my letter. Thank God you later confirmed and agreed in one of your press briefings that I actually left the said amount of money in the coffers of the State. Throughout that period, out of my desire not to join issues with you, I kept quiet despite the abuses and intimidations that myself and my associates have been receiving from you and your government. 4. Recent developments have, however, compelled me now to put up this open letter to you so as to express my highest level of preparedness to face any committee/commission of investigation into our Administration particularly the issues raised in your petitions to ICPC and EFCC against me and my associates. Permit me to remind you that my eight years of Administration in Sokoto State was not Bafarawa Administration alone. It was Bafarawa/Wamakko Administration of which you served for seven years as my Deputy. I therefore implore you to go ahead and re-open all the petitions you sent to all the anti-graft agencies against me and re-submit them to the Commission of Inquiry you set up in the State to investigate our Administration. I am ready to make myself available and to defend all my deeds during my eight years in office. 5. Some of the petitions written against me and my associates by your Attorney-General indicated that I am a Director on the Boards of P.W. Nig Ltd and News Engineering Nig Ltd. I am however surprised that your Government has retained these companies and they are now at various sites working to complete the projects awarded to them by our Administration. It is on record that you have already paid to them more than One Billion Naira on the contracts which you and your associates have then alleged that were over inflated by our Administration. 6. My decision to agree to respond to all your unnecessary attacks and baseless allegations was informed by the need to set the records straight for the sake of our dear State and democracy at large. I can no longer afford to fold my arms and watch my image and hard earned integrity being tarnished in the media daily without any just cause. Under the normal public service procedure, reports or recommendations of Administrative Committees of Inquiry (particularly in cases where those accused were never given the opportunity to be heard) are never made issues of public discussion until/unless they have been accepted by the Government. I am sure you are aware of some of the issues for which my good name and those of my associates are being deliberately tarnished on the pages of Newspapers were based on some Audit Reports which were never seen or responded to by the relevant Accounting Officers of Ministries/Departments concerned whose duty it is to respond to such Audit queries. 7. In fact, some of the Committees recommendations are, to a very large extent, emotional and conclusive as evident in the Attorney-General’s Press Statement where his Solicitor-General was reported to have swiftly ordered that I and my associates are to refund the sum of N4 billion to Sokoto State Government for services not satisfactorily rendered or not done at all. 8. It is on record that during the period of our Administration, I set up three powerful project monitoring and implementation committees (one in each Senatorial Zone) under the Chairmanship of three highly respected gentlemen who were known for their good records of service, impeccable character and sound moral integrity in the persons of Alhaji Garba Gummi, Alhaji Buda Gummi and Alhaji Abdullahi Abubakar. These principled and honest gentlemen were mandated to supervise all contracts awarded by our Administration and issue certificates for payment when jobs were satisfactorily completed. The Chairman and members of all these committees are still alive and working with your Administration. I therefore challenge you to find out from them if there is any day I asked them to issue certificates on jobs not completed or not done for payment. 9. My brother, it was never my intention to react to all your attacks and intimidations on me and my associates if not for the deliberate and orchestrated attempt of your Government to tarnish my good image. You will recall that the highest level of personal attacks was meted out to me when went to Gwadabawa Local Government to publicly abuse my father during the last gubernatorial re-run election. I never responded to your abuses and I will never waste my time in doing so. You are also aware that you have openly and deliberately victimised me by your denial to pay my monthly entitlements as provided for by the Law passed by the State House of Assembly. The Law provides for former Governors and their Deputies to continue to enjoy their monthly salaries and other allowances for life. You abided by that Law and paid my Deputy who served for eight months only but refused tom pay me after my eight years of service to the State. 10. In the light of these, Your Excellency, while it is never my intention to join issues with you, I wish to assure you that I am at all times ready to face any Committee of investigation and to defend my actions during my tenure. While I am not saying that I will a Judge in my own case, I will throw my case before the public Court of the entire people of Sokoto State. I am certain that when we meet there, the truth shall pre
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 05:07:43 +0000
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