The League of Concerned Borno Professionals has petitioned the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), over allegations of “reckless financial impropriety, fraud, theft of local government funds and money laundering” against Alifa Rann, chairman Kala Balge local government of Borno state and Dige Mohammed, Member, Borno state house of assembly.
The petition exclusively obtained by BusinessDay states that Rann and Mohammed had been in active connivance and conspiracy to siphon almost N1billion from the coffers of the local government, and converted same to their personal use.
The group in the petition signed by one Bukar Mele and Kaka Lawan, alleged that with a total allocation of N82, 998, 692.9 to the local government between April and June 2017, the duo of Rann and Mohammed diverted the funds for their personal use as virtually all the inhabitants of the local government had been moved to IDP camps at Rann, where they are being catered for by Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), federal and state governments.
To buttress its point, the group alleged that the local government chairman, Rann, collected the sum of N25million in April 2017 from the state government to go and see to the needs of the IDPs in Rann, but instead, the chairman allegedly shared the money with Mohammed who represents Kala Balge in the Borno state house of assembly.
The said N25million is independent of the monthly allocation that the local government receives from the federation account.
The chairman was also said to have reported to the state governor, Kashim Shettima that he discovered N6million was being paid monthly to ghost workers, however, there has been no reflection of such in the local government account.
It was further alleged that the chairman gives Mohammed the sum of N5million every month from the coffers of the local government and prepares fictitious payment vouchers and contract papers to cover up the amount, to which the group called on the ICPC to look at the expenditure of the local government from April 2017 to date.
The petitioners also alleged that “out of the consignment of 600 bags of rice and 600 bags of sugar given to the Kala Balge local government area for this year’s Ramadan Kareem, Alifa Rann distributed 744 bags to the people at Rann, but sold 456 bags at Gamboru Ngala, Ngala local government and pocketed the proceeds.
“Alifa Rann also purchased a Lexus GX 4×4 Jeep for N6million and a Lexus 470 4×4 Jeep for N5million and claimed he was directed to purchase the cars by the governor, Kashim Shettima. He purchased these cars directly from the local government funds and registered them in his personal name, as he claimed he was directed to do so by the governor”.
The local government was also said to have sponsored the trip of two children of Rann to Saudi Arabia for Umrah and to Dubai for shopping, preparatory for their wedding.
The petitioners urged the ICPC headquarters to thoroughly investigate the allegations as “the chairman Alifa Rann claims that the ICPC office in Yola is powerless to investigate him, as they are friends”.
SEYI ANJORIN, Abuja
