The Kaduna State House of Assembly has revealed the discovery of a “monumental heist” carried out under the guise of project execution during the eight-year tenure of former governor Nasir El-Rufai.
This revelation was made by the Chairman of the Fact-Finding Committee and Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Henry Magaji, in a statement issued in Kaduna on Wednesday.
Magaji detailed that the Assembly’s investigation uncovered numerous poorly executed and abandoned projects, along with projects that were merely fictional. He criticized the former administration’s senior political appointees for attempting to undermine the committee’s report through a press conference, labeling their efforts as a rehash of previous allegations without addressing the core issues of fraudulent contracts and looting.
“The attention of the Kaduna State House of Assembly has been drawn to a press conference addressed by some senior political appointees of the immediate past administration of Malam Nasir El-Rufai. In the press conference, the former political appointees made strenuous efforts to pick holes in the report of the Probe Committee. They resorted to name calling and wild allegations on the motivations for the House Probe.”
He added that they failed to address the main issue, which is the systematic and coordinated cornering of the resources of Kaduna State through phoney contracts and outright looting.
Magaji stated, “The State House of Assembly, in line with its constitutional mandate and in response to public demand, carried out a thorough probe into the humongous debts incurred by the immediate past administration without commensurate projects. We dug deep and unearthed the monumental heist carried out in Kaduna State in the guise of project execution. Our findings revealed a litany of poorly executed projects, abandoned projects, and projects that exist only in the imagination of executive scammers.”
He explained that the members have called on anti-corruption agencies to step in and invite indicted persons for questioning, stressing that it is the anti-corruption agencies that can either validate or disprove our findings, not individuals who spent their days in public office cornering the common patrimony of the people of Kaduna State and mortgaging the future of its children and grandchildren.
He urged the former political appointees to deploy their energies towards preparing their defences before the anti-corruption agencies, and eventually the courts, pointing out that the House of Assembly is not in a battle of wits with them.
According to him, “We have done our duty to the people of Kaduna State. Let them answer to the charges of malfeasance, abuse of office, disrespect for the law and due process leveled against them.
“We are currently in court with the head of the indicted administration, Malam Nasir El-Rufai over the issue of fair hearing. We shall not comment on the matter because it is sub-judice. We stand for the rule of law and due process.”
He stated that they are elected representatives of the people and are accountable to the people with constitutional responsibility to make laws and carry out functions for the welfare, safety and security of the people.
“The probe carried out by the House is in furtherance of the oath we took to advance the interests of the people of Kaduna State. The few political appointees who have been making desperate but futile moves to denigrate the House and cover up the alleged fraud perpetrated by the previous government represent no one but themselves. If they genuinely have the interest of Kaduna State and are truly men and women of integrity, they would have applied themselves to developing the state instead of participating in the alleged pilfering of its scarce resources,” he added.
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