Kano Anti-Graft Agency drags RIFAN executives to court over alleged N10b fraud

Kano State Public Complaints and Anti Corruption Commission has vowed to arraign executive members of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) for failure to appear before the agency after released on bail on Thursday.

The commission Chairman, Barr. Muhuyi Magaji Rimigado stated this at a news conference held at his office on Friday, noting that they will be charged to court next week.

He said this is sequel to the refusal of the Kano branch Chairman of RIFAN, Alhaji Abubakar Haruna Aliyu and the Deputy Secretary, Ado Hassan Yakasai after they were released on bail on Thursday following alleged fraud in the N10b federal government anchor borrower scheme in the state.

“Based on the complaints filed before us on the 2018  anchor borrower scheme handled by the state chapter of RIFAN in which N10 billion was alleged to have be expended with little above 5% recovery. We invited the state chapter chairman and his deputy secretary and when they refused to honour the invitation we arrested them for questioning.

We released them based on the fact that they have agreed to appear before the commission the following day, a condition they failed to honour which necessitate us to begin a court proceeding against the officials” he said.

The anti-graft boss said the repayment of the loan is not supposed to be in cash but rather in the form of agriculture produce such as paddy rice so as to reduce the cost of rice in the country.

‘’’The alleged fraud was in collaboration with some of the contractors supplying the agriculture inputs ‘’

Also, the commission chairman revealed that the threat by the national body of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) to exclude Kano state from the list of beneficiaries of the federal government anchor borrower agricultural intervention scheme will not deter the commission from investigating the N10 billion alleged fraud in Kano chapter of RIFAN.

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He maintained that the assertion that Kano state will be delisted from the list of beneficiaries of the anchor borrower scheme will not in any way deter the body from the investigation processes that it started.

Also, he said the commission is investigating another intervention loan for the rice farmers through the Bank of Agriculture where the state government served as guarantor in 2016 to the tune of N1b.

This, he said is also yet to be recovered from the farmers.

However, a visit to RIFAN office by Solacebase revealed a closed office with no official on sight and all attempts to get to the RIFAN state chairman proved abortion as he did not pick his calls.