The witness in the ongoing trial of a former governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shehu Shema on Tuesday, June 12, 2018 revealed how the ex-governor between 2013 and 2015 approved the expenditure of local government funds without following due process.
The witness, Ibrahim Dabo Bujawa, made the disclosure through his statement to the #EFCC which was admitted in evidence and marked as exhibit 2.
The witness in the statement revealed that his committee on investigation of local government finances at the conclusion of its assignment uncovered series of malpractice. “The committee I chaired for the investigation of the finances of local governments and Sate Universal Basic Education,SUBEB observed series of malpractice bordering on non submission of payment vouchers by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs , irregular payment of money on sheets of paper, improper and suspected fraudulent payments on the State Joint Local Government Account maintained under the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and non-documentation of financial transactions by local governments; all involving the loss of funds to the tune of over Thirty Four Billion Naira,”the witness said.
The witness added that the procedure in which the local governments’ funds should be disbursed was not followed and that the way the money was expended was irregular and unlawful.
According to him, contrary to the requirement that all members of the Joint Local Government Allocation Committee must meet before local governments funds are disbursed, the committee never met throughout the period under investigation. “Throughout the period under investigation, my committee observed that the Joint Local Government Allocation Committee never held a single meeting nor was any minutes delivered to the committee.