The Chairman of the Transition Committee in Zamfara, who is also the deputy governor of the state, Mallam Ibrahim Wakkala has alleged that the Committee has so far uncovered a total of N251,951,849,482.50 left by the administration of the former governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar.
Briefing news men on the activities of the Committee in Gusau, the former deputy governor said the Committee had reviewed submissions received by it from ministries, departments and agencies as well as those received from the transition committee of the past administration.
Wakkala said the briefing became necessary as a result of “the social media reports on the activities of the committee.
“I deemed it fit to make a briefing on the significant stage we have reached in the course of this onerous assignment in order to clear the air on the activities of the committee and put the records straight.
According to Wakkala, the key findings so far related to liabilities, especially from ongoing projects as submitted by Yari in the economic, environmental, general and social sectors.
“On liabilities from ongoing projects, as submitted by the last administration based on the four sectors, the total liabilities on 462 ongoing projects stand at N151,190,477,572.02.
“On liabilities from the Ministry of Finance, “Under this category, outstanding loans, contract retention, bailouts, and loans from banks, the amount stands N65,361,873,755.75.
“On liabilities from the Ministry for local government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the committee discovered N35,399,498,154.53,” the Committee chairman stated.
The Committee also “discovered N1,431,645,305.99 deducted from workers’ salaries between 2016 and 2019 to he National Housing Fund and Pension Contributions but were not allegedly remitted to appropriated pension administrators as required by law.”
Disclosing the liabilities under the Ministry of Education, Wakkala said the examination bodies owing the state government include, West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), National Examination Council (NECO), National Board for Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) and National Board For Islamic and Arabic Studies (NBAIS).
According to him, there were also liabilities involving Crescent University Abeokuta, Al-Hikma University Ilorin and Key Science Academy Abuja. “The total amount stands at N2,812,172,155,” he said.
On pension and gratuities, the Committee, according to Wakkala, “discovers that out of the N2,000,000,000 approved by the previous administration for payment of backlog of gratuity owed retired workers in the state, only retired permanent secretaries were paid N400,000,000. A whopping N1,600,000,000 is unaccounted for.
“From the foregoing, it is noteworthy that the total liabilities so far discovered by the Committee stands at N251,951,849,482.50,” he stated.
