HARD CROOK: HOW ISA YUGUDA, OTHERS ALLEGEDLY EMBEZZLED OVER N3.6 BILLION AS GOVERNOR OF BAUCHI STATE

Secret Reporters

Isa Yuguda who ordinarily should not be seen close to the corridors of power due to his clear lack of interest for the development of his constituency was regrettably positioned with an exclusive key to the Bauchi State’s financial vault as Governor of the State from May 29, 2007, to May 29, 2015, giving him leeway to carry out monumental frauds in collaboration with the Secretary to the State Government Ahmed Ibrahim Dandija.

Landslide corruption mingled with fraudulent awards of contracts to companies owned and operating for the erstwhile Governor and the SSG at inflated amounts is no tale in the 8 years of Isa Yuguda’s administration.

Among the numerous illegal contracts awarded to themselves was the award of a contract for the reconstruction and expansion of the Sa’ad Zungur Primary School described as the oldest primary school in the state at a whopping sum of N1,100,000,000,000 (One billion One Hundred Million Naira) to M/S Current MEC Engineering Ltd allegedly owned and operated by the Governor and his SSG by proxy.

On September 8, 2008, the Special Adviser (Project) Mohammed Sirajo Garba in an internal memo referenced “Re-construction and expansion of Sa’ad Zungur Primary School” addressed to the erstwhile Governor through the Secretary to the State Government Ahmed Dandija, it was revealed that M/S Current MEC Engineering alleged to be owned and operated by Isa Yuguda by proxy, was recommended to execute a contract for the sum of N800,000,000 (Eight Hundred Million Naira) since they presented the least tender figure in a bidding exercise described as skewed.

It was alleged that the award of the contract to the company was fast-tracked by Ahmed Dandija who knowing the budgeted amount for the contract, informed the company’s directors to present an amount a little lesser than the approved sum in other to sway other contractors who were invited for the bid and the Ministry of Works into believing that the company M/S Current MEC Engineering Ltd won the contract legitimately.

Following the speedy approval of the contract by Isa Yuguda on September 12, 2008, after the skewed bidding process organized by the Ministry of Works on September 8, 2008, experts in the field of building construction in Bauchi were infuriated as to why such outrageous amount of N800,000,000 (Eight Hundred Million Naira) will be penned down for the school which will only accommodate about 3000 to 5000 pupils as the cost of refurbishment should not have exceeded N150 million.

Shockingly, while the dust on the humongous amount was yet to settled, experts were shocked to discover that the contractor had submitted a variance for an adjustment to the contract sum from the already overpriced N800,000,000 (Eight Hundred Million Naira) to a jaw-dropping N1,100,000,000,000.

As though the additional N300,000,000 (Three Hundred Million Naira) been requested by the contractor was kick back for the contract, it was gathered that on the same day of the presentation of the request by the contractor, Isa Yuguda immediately approved it directing that the funds be sourced from the LGA account.

Expectedly, it was also alleged that despite over N792,000,000 (Seven Hundred and Ninety-Two Million Naira) amounting to over 70% of the contract sum, no significant work has been done in the school.

More so, findings also showed that in mid-2008, running amok with his looting spree not minding whose ox is gored, Yuguda approved another N1,100,000,000,000 (One Billion One Hundred Million Naira) for the refurbishment of College of Islamic Studies located at Misua LGA.

However, as though it was a custom, the cost of the contract was reviewed from N1.1billion to an earth-quaking sum of N2,500,000,000,000 (Two Billion Five Hundred Million Naira) with the excuse that the extra N1,400,000,000,000 (One Billion Four Hundred Naira) was for the incorporation of computers and information technology centers into the college with strict directives that the fund be sourced from LGA funds.

It is also alleged that besides been Governor, Isa Yuguda doubled as the local government chairman of the 20 Local governments in the state while the duly elected LGA chairmen were reduced to rubber stamps giving him unrestricted access to Local government funds