Namadi Fumes Over Alleged
By Aliyu Dangida
Jigawa state Governor, Umar Namadi, has vowed to recover and punish officials believed to be involved in the alleged misappropriation of World Bank/ FADAMA III disbursement funds in the state.
The Governor stated this on Sunday during an unscheduled visit to the beneficiaries of the funds in Ringim Local Government Area of the State.
In a viral video that set tongues wagging in the social media, Governor Namadi was seen angrily reacting to the alleged fraud in a one on one meeting with some unidentified officials of FADAMA III project in the state.
His words:- “I swear anybody who has hands in this dubious act must account for it, the money must be returned.
“Is that how we are going to develop our people, instead of given a beneficiary N114,000 you gave him this merger amount, the angry governor said while alleging wrongdoing in the disbursement of the COVID-19 stimulus package meant to assist farmers in the state.
“The fund must be returned back or people involved must face the full wrath of law, whoever is involved must be brought to book”. Namadi stressed.
The governor who was furious with the official handling the empowerment program targeting irrigation farmers in the state but allegedly diverted the fund meant for the promotion of irrigation farming to enrich themselves for the detriment of target beneficiaries.
Interacting with the beneficiaries, Governor Namadi discovered that each beneficiary entitled to the sum of N114,000 inaddition to fertilizer, water pump machine, chemicals and other inputs but was given the sum of N8,000 to N13,000 while others were not given a dime despite their names appeared in the beneficiaries list.
Hotpen has authoritatively gathered that the alleged misappropriation of funds involved senior officials from Ministry of Agriculture, who presided over the FADAMA III programme and J-Cares Project.
It was equally gathered that, a petition has been submitted to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for onward investigation on the alleged manipulation scam.
HOTPEN reported how Jigawa state government disbursed to about 4,500 farmers who benefit from the COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Program (NG-CARES) across the 27 Local Government Areas of the state.
The State Coordinator on Fadama III project, Aminu Isah Ringim said during the flag-off of the community-based procurement training to farmers in Hadejia, Kazaure and Dutse Local Government Areas.
According to him, the programme is aimed at reducing the hardship they have gone through as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
