Adamawa: EFCC Probes Umaru Fintiri Over N18b Fraud , As I’ll be Vindicated, Says Ex-Acting Governor

                          

Barely a week after he was sacked by a federal high court in Abuja, the former acting Governor of Adama­wa state, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri has come under the searchlight of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC whose opera­tives stormed Yola, the state capital on Tuesday scanning official docu­ments as part of on-going investiga­tion of a whooping sum of N18 billion that allegedly developed wings in the less than three months stay of Fintiri.

Until July 16, Fintiri was the Speaker of the Adamawa state House of Assembly after which he became the acting governor following the impeachment of ex-Gover­nor Murtala Nyako by the state lawmakers. Soon after becoming the acting governor, Fintiri moved to stay on by contesting a by-election slated for October 11. Though he got the PDP ticket to contest the election that would have made him the substan­tive governor, the Abuja federal high court however threw him out of office and nulli­fied the scheduled election on Wednesday October 8 during the ruling in a suit filed by Nyako’s deputy, Bala Ngilari to chal­lenge his removal from office. Apart from sacking Fintiri, the court also ordered the swearing in of Ngilari.

While the confusion in the state lasted, there were allegations of indiscriminate award of contracts worth billions of naira by the acting governor. The allegations were said to have formed the basis of the current investigation by the EFCC. The anti-graft operatives were said to have been visiting government Ministries and Para­statals in Yola since Tuesday to recover documents and interact with some officials who could assist their enquiry.

When contacted on the development, Director, Press and Public Affairs to Gov­ernor Ngilari, Mr P. P Elisha, would nei­ther confirm nor deny that EFCC officials have stormed the state probing the alleged N18 billion contract scam. According to him,EFCC is an institution of government and can storm any state in the performance of its assigned duties in a democracy,which he considered to be normal .

Officials of some of the government establishments already visited in the state however confirmed the probe stress­ing that the operatives have been visiting their account departments recovering doc­uments relating to the huge expenditures incurred by the former acting governor within a space of 86 days he stayed in the office.

In his response to the probe, Fintiri challenged those behind the allegation that his administration squandered N18 billion in 86 days to provide evidence to support their claim. Fintiri,who has officially re­sumed as the Speaker of the State House of Assembly ,in a statement he read on the floor of the House,declared that he was not oblivious of the move to impugn his integ­rity adding that those involved would not succeed.

He urged citizens to discountenance the allegation which he described as,” ri­diculous claim “, asking his accusers “to provide a shred of evidence for just one million naira that was expended illegally not to talk of N18 billion,which we never received from anywhere.” “As a law abiding citizen and number one lawmaker, I have taken events that occurred in the last couple of days in my stride and pledge to stand by truth no matter the blackmail and intimidation”, he added.

The Sun