Abuja-based Arewa Transparency & Accountability Forum has alleged wide-ranging corruption, misuse of public funds, betrayal of public trust, misappropriation of public funds, fraud and outright theft of public resources against a former Minister of Sports in the administration President Goodluck Jonathan, Yusuf Suleiman.
In a petition dated January 31, 2012 to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, signed by Maina Isa Danmallam, the group alleged that Suleiman, who contested the recent Sokoto State governorship election and lost to the Governor-elect, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, “contravened the provisions of the Constitution by lodging the sum of $1.9 million in his domiciliary dollar account number 03540131001727 with United Bank of Africa.
“Similarly in the same bank, he lodged another sum of N519 million in account number 00120020018111 between the months of May to November 2010.”
Suleiman, was alleged to have got the money from secret deals with Intels Nigeria Plc.
The group also in the petition, alluded to his controversial exit at the defunct Nigeria Maritime Authority as Director of Administration & Personnel, which was claimed was put in secrecy to avert barrage of attack from the media.
The group alleged that Suleiman put pressure on the chief executive officer for ‘kick-backs’, which was why maritime laws such as Procurement Act, Fiscal Responsibility Act were suppressed then.
The group said it was when the information reached the Board of the Maritime Agency, that a panel was set up, which then allegedly found him guilty for incompetence and financial malpractices.
Danmallam went on to demand from the EFCC the investigation of a report of a private firm of Auditors, Akin Omoriodion & Co, later termed ‘government audit report’, which exposed the excesses of the Agency’s Board.
The Board was then under Suleiman’s supervision.
The report was alleged to have indicted Suleiman for circumventing due process in the operations of the Agency through splitting, over-pricing and awarding contracts worth billions of Naira beyond the Board’s powers.
The report accused the Board of awarding contracts in local currency worth $1.863 million between January and June 2010, with traces of fraud in refunds, cash advances and supplies.
The former minister was also said to have commissioned the project and claimed that “NIMASA awarded 451 contracts during the period at a total cost of N5.4 billion.”
Another succinct matter that the group referred to in the petition was when Jonathan ordered the ministers of Transport Foreign Affairs to support the candidature of Mrs. Monica Mbanefo as the secretary of the International Maritime Organisation, which campaign cost was to be borne by the NIMASA Board.
A formal request of £300,000 from NIMASA’s main account in Barclays Bank was made by the agency’s board.
This also got the approval of the President.
However, Arewa Transparency & Accountability Forum said only £26,666 was utilised for the purpose for which the money was withdrawn from Barclays Bank.
The group wrote: “On the strength of this, we implore the EFCC Chairman to recover the missing sum from Suleman and his cohorts.”
It was further alleged that there was NIMASA Board’s conspiracy with the minister and the contravention of Section 11(4) of NIMASA Act 2007.
This involved one Mr. Omatseye, the first Director General in the history of NIMASA, who was alleged to have surged the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund from $11 million to over $80 million and released the Primary Lending Institution for onward disbursement to Nigerians.
The former minister, on prompting by some aggrieved board members through a petition, summoned an emergency meeting and had Omatseye ‘suspended’ contrary to Section 11, sub-section 4, NIMASA Act of 2007.
The petition was also dispatched to the President, the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the Department of Secret Service and the Security Adviser to the President.