Following a report submitted to Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state by the Funds and Assets Recovery Committee yesterday, former Governor Isah Yuguda has said that the allegations against him was false and a calculated plan to smear his reputation.
A former commissioner for religious affairs during his administration, Alhaji Salisu Ahmed Barau who said he was speaking for his boss on the report argued that the amount the committee said was carted away by the previous administrations in the state does not reflect the reality on grown.
The former commissioner who described the over N1 trillion claim by the committee as ridiculous said, “if you look at the revenue portfolio of the state during the tenure of my boss, Dr. Mal. Isah Yuguda for whom I am speaking now, you will agree with me that the total internally Generated Revenue (IGR) that came into the coffers of the government as at then, between May 2007 – May 2015 was between the range of 650-700 billion naira.
“Hitherto now, we saw the report on the social media and had wanted to keep mute thinking that it was just the committee that made their own assertion and even wrongly went to the media”. Salisu said.
Alhaji Salisu who is also an APC Chieftain in the state noted that “following the submission of the report and the subsequent pronouncement made by Governor Bala, it has become clear to everybody that it is one of the political gimmicks from the present government purposely created to distract the attention of the citizens of Bauchi state so that its maladministration will continue”.
Salisu who said he was not speaking for M.A because he is not his Spokesperson pointed out that the immediate past government might not have collected more than 400 billion.
“Now, be it as it may, even if he had collected 400 billion, if you add that 400 billion to 700 billion of Malam Yuguda is about 1.1 trillion naira.
Now, the question a rational person will ask is how did the two Governors collect this amount of money and cart away1 trillion naira? Does it mean that the two governments have done nothing in the state? They have not paid salaries, they have not serviced the government, they have not done anything?
He said before the coming of former Governor Yuguda many secondary school graduates were roaming the streets without admission and he established the state university which has become not only the pride of Bauchi state but the nation as a whole.
Yuguda awarded both domestic and foreign scholarships, annually, he gavw scholarships to 20-30 female and male students to go and study medicine abroad, aeronotic engineering and other relevant courses that have direct bearing on the people of Bauchi state”. Salisu submitted.
According to him, Yuguda came in when 20-30 secondary schools were in a dilapidated condition, renovated about 25 and made them completely new, UBEC projects that have direct bearing in the lives of Bauchi state people.
Salisu recalled that his boss built brand new general hospitals, renovated about 15-20 primary health centres across the state in addition to a brand new specialist hospital for the state.
“Yuguda struggled to ensure that the hitherto Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University of Technology was coverted to a conventional Hospital where medicene is read amongst many others achievements”, the former commissioner noted.
He said his boss impacted positively in human capital development where he employed more than 25,000 political aides in Bauchi state who were fully paid throughout his tenure.
“If I may ask, where could he have gotten the money to do all these jobs? When you talk of security, Malam Yuguda was able to secure the state. You will agree with me that Bauchi state was the birth place of Boko haram but he secured the state through his cooperation with the traditional and religious leadera both Christians and Muslims through his pragmatic approach to unity in the state.