Contractor petitions EFCC over LG Chairman’s refusal to pay over N14m contract fund in Kano

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has received two separate complaint letters accusing the incumbent chairman of the Gwarzo Local Government Area of Kano state, Engineer Bashir Abdullahi of refusing to settle payments of contracts even after the funds have been released by the state government and alleged embezzlement of local government funds as well.

In one of the complaint letters made available to newsmen in Kano on Thursday dated 17th November 2020 and signed by Barr Abubakar Muhammad Lagazab on behalf of one Mustapha Umar Tallo of Saulawa Quarters Gwarzo, the attention of the anti-graft agency was drawn to the refusal of the Gwarzo Chairman to disburse funds made available for payment of 20 direct labour contracts as well as 14 other projects in the Local Government even as the funds had since been made available by the state government.

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Part of the first complaint letter signed by the same complainant reads: “The 20 projects consist of a total sum of N21,907,875:00 (twenty-one million, nine hundred and seven thousand, eight hundred and seventy-five naira only) our client was paid only N7m by the Honorable Chairman Engineer Bashir Abdullahi, leaving an unpaid balance of N14,907,875:00. Attached herewith is the summary of the works and our clients’ consideration/money for your perusal.

“Additional fourteen projects were also executed by our client to which N10,101,368 was not paid. This brings the total of money due to my client to N25,009,243:00 and the Kano state government has paid this money a long time ago, our client will present all necessary documents to buttress his complaint”.

On the embezzlement of the public funds, part of the second petition dated 23rd November 2020 and signed by the same complainants reads: “Sir I have a record of about 12 projects which were not executed but our Honorable chairman collected money from the Kano state government pretending to have executed it while it was not done”.

In a total of seven projects mentioned by the complainant, the sum of N423,561,188:00 was allegedly embezzled without traces of any of the projects in place.

Sources revealed that the EFCC has since swung into action by inviting the Gwarzo Local Government Chairman.