N3m Salary Scam: Bauchi Civil Service sacks senior staff

The Bauchi State Civil Service Commission (BSCSC) has terminated the  appointment of Ibrahim Garba, Chief Secretarial Assistant attached to the State Pension Board over alleged “serious misconduct of salary and pension scam”. This is contained in  a statement by the Information Officer, BSCSC, Mr Saleh Umar in Bauchi.. The Commission alleged that Garba’s action violated the Public Service Rule (PSR) 0327(XI) which deals  with the issues of financial embezzlement. “The commission approved the termination during a sitting of the 17th plenary session held on August 1. “A disciplinary committee of the State Pension Board found Garba guilty of swapping the account number of one Audu Mohammed, now deceased, with his own. “This facilitated the change of pay point after the relatives of the deceased reported his death. “Thereafter, he received illegal pension for 55 months of N54,871 for four years and seven months which amounted to over N3 million. “This amount will be recovered from Garba’s benefits,” he said. He further explained that the chairman of the commission, Alhaji Abubakar Usman has called on workers in the state to be God-fearing in the discharge of their duties. He said the Public Service Rule (PSR) must be observed and adhered to as a guide The chairman assured the civil servants in the state that no worker will be victimised for nothing and the commission will not sit back and do nothing while bad eggs sabotage the service.

Alleged Graft: Kaduna Assembly suspends 3 LG chairmen

Kaduna State House of Assembly on Tuesday suspended three local government chairmen over alleged mismanagement of funds meant for projects in their localities. The three local government chairmen are Mr. Mathias Siman (PDP) Kaura, Mr. Nasara Rabo (APC) Kagarko, and Mr. Salasi Musa (PDP), Chikun. The decision followed the submission of an investigation report on the financial activities of five Local Government chairmen, earlier presented to the House. The report, which was presented by the Chairman of the Adhoc Committee, Mrs. Munira Tanimu (Lere East Constituency – APC), was unanimously adopted by the House. Tanimu alleged that the affected chairmen did not adhere to due process in the discharge of their official responsibilities, as provided in Section 35 (23) of the Kaduna State Public Procurement Law, 2016. “Recall that on July 18, 2023, the House mandated the ad-hoc committee on investigation, to as a matter of urgency, investigate the financial activities of five local governments. “This is as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “The committee thoroughly investigated the financial activities, including the capital and recurrent expenditures of the five local governments, namely, Chikun, Kaura, Kagarko, Soba, and Birnin Gwari before writing its report,” she said. The three chairmen were suspended for six months, pending further investigation, while their Birnin Gwari and Soba counterparts who were absolved of wrongdoing are to maintain their seats. The suspended council’s chairmen were directed to vacate their offices and hand over to their vice chairmen. They were also ordered not to be seen within the vicinity of their local government secretariats, pending the outcome of the investigation. The Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Yusuf Liman, called on all political office holders to desist from embezzling public funds. Liman added that whoever was found wanting would be punished according to the law and without sentiment.

How EFCC grilled Ortom for 9 hours

*Former Benue governor has nothing to hide, says Aide The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday grilled the immediate past governor of Benue, Mr. Samuel Ortom, for nine hours before he was later released. Ortom arrived at the premises of the commission’s Zonal Headquarters, Makurdi, at 10 a.m. and left there at about 7:00 p.m it was gathered. Reacting, Ortom’s media aide, Mr Terver Akase, said that contrary to insinuations in some sections of the mass media, Ortom was not arrested but only honoured the commission’s invitation. “Ortom was neither arrested nor detained at the EFCC Zonal Headquarters in Makurdi,“ Akase said. According to him, the former governor has nothing to hide, honoured that he would always be available for questioning by the anti-graft agency. “Ortom has nothing to hide regarding his stewardship in the state,” Akase said.