Nyako used ADC to siphon state funds, Perm Sec tells panel

From Umar Dankano, Yola

The seven-man probe panel constituted by the acting governor of Adamawa state, Ahmadu Fintiri, to investigate the administration of former Governor Murtala Nyako from June 2007 to June 2014 commenced sitting in Yola yesterday receiving a submission indicting the former governor.

Testifying at the panel sitting at High Court II in Yola, the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry for Local Government, Mr. Kennedy Dauda, said the 21 local government councils in the state had been contributing N48 million monthly as assistance to the police and that the amount was being collected by the ADC to former governor, Murtala Nyako.

The permanent secretary, Dauda, explained to the panel that the monthly allocation from the deduction of local government funds of fifteen million naira monthly totaling N2.5 billion annually was transmitted through the former ADC to governor Nyako, DSP Hassan Sani as security vote for the police in the state for the period under review.

Dauda also told the panel that the Local governments also contributed N10. 5 million monthly for the operations of the three state owned media organizations through the Ministry of Information.

Dauda further told the panel that the local governments, through his ministry, also paid the sum of N167 million in 2012 to a company that was awarded contract for CCTV cameras but was not sure if the contract has commenced.

Questions raised by members of the panel concerning the contracts including the ones for the building of 210 housing units in local governments and for the purchase of 110 Hilux vans among others by the panel members could not be satisfactorily answered by the permanent Secretary who said he was not in charge at the time.

Chairman of the panel, Justice Umar Bobbo, said the panel would get in touch with relevant individuals and organizations to verify the claims by the permanent secretary.

Efforts to get reaction from Nyako’s camp were unsuccessful. His Spokesman, Mal Ahmed Sajoh could not be reached on his mobile phone which was continuously on call divert. Text messages to his phone requesting for a reaction were also not answered at the time of going to press.