From: Femi Oyelola in Kaduna
Kaduna development monitoring group under the 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 the El-Rufa’i 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, the Forum for Good Governance in Kaduna said there was nothing wrong with his arrest, especially when the issue revolved around the looting of public funds.
The group, in the Statement signed by Hon. Ahmadu Ibrahim Kauru, warned against any attempt by El-Rufa’i to interfere with the process, adding that such must be resisted vehemently.
While noting that recovery of looted funds is very necessary now that Kaduna state was highly indebted, the Forum insisted that” Bashir’s arrest must not be politicized because we all know that once an agency arrests an individual for the looting of public funds or financial crime, it is in order.”
“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.”
