The immediate past Governor of Bauchi, Mohammed Abubakar, has reacted to the claim by the asset recovery committee set up by the incumbent governor, Bala Mohammed, saying that he and Isa Yuguda, had siphoned the sum of N1 trillion during their reigns.
The Media Aide to Mohammed Abubakar, Ali M. Ali, in a press release issued to newsmen on Monday in Bauchi, described the latest allegation as a joke and baseless.
Recall that the Asset Recovery Committee formed by the incumbent Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, alleged that ex-governors, Abubakar and Isa Yuguda looted the sum of N1trillion belonging to the State during their tenures.
“Our attention has been drawn to the latest joke by the Bauchi State Government Assets Recovery Committee set up by the incumbent governor, Senator Bala Mohammed to the effect that our principal and former governor, M.A Abubakar and associates are to refund over a trillion naira looted away under his watch”
“We recall that the fantastic claims during its first news conference on October 2nd, 2019 in which it maligned Abubakar without facts. It brazenly distorted facts misrepresented documented accounts and even manufactured their own version of history. The timing of the press conference then was strategic as it was only a few days to the verdict of the Tribunal of Bauchi State Governorship tussle”
“This latest charge is as laughable as it is diversionary. The first time, Abubakar was charged with not accounting for N321, 460,759,880.34, being Statutory Allocations to the State between May 2015 to May 2019. Now it has jumped to a trillion. Faced with the daunting task of leadership and lacking in financial discipline, the Bauchi State Government is trying to divert attention from its glaring mismanagement of lean resources in the pursuit of vanity and personal aggrandizement.
“The government is looking for a fall guy and MA Abubakar is not that guy. We wish to restate here that MA Abubakar is innocent of all these allegations, we challenge them to provide proof of his misdeeds. As chief executive of the State, he took his oath of office seriously and never abused his office knowingly. As a lawyer of repute, he worked by the book. At no time was he a party to any of the breaches alleged by the committee”, the statement read.
