Yakubu, INEC Boss is Not Corrupt, says Group
Steve Onjeh
The new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Mahmud Yakubu, has been said to have questions to answer with respect to his activities as the scribe of an agency. Allegations of corruption has been levelled against him. Yakubu who was the Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND, was reported to have diverted 850M Naira belong to the education sector.
The new INEC chairman who has just been named by President Muhammadu Buhari has been accused of being an accomplice in a N850 million fraud involving the Universal Basic Education and the Education Tax Fund while he was Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.
A group that calls itself Arewa Frontiers (AF) has come in defence of Yakubu saying the allegations were spurious, baseless and unfounded. Speaking with NigerianEcho, the group’s National Coordinator, Mustapha Abdullahi, said the people peddling the rumours are the ones who are scared of his credentials.
“It is imperative to note that rumours can’t trump the truth because the truth is always constant. The whole ‘N850 million’ fraud is a bunch of lies originating from a mind averse to research and seeking the truth. The truth is there was no such N850 million’. The amount involved was N722.5 million. If something as simple as the amount cannot be gotten right, how are people supposed to take seriously any other point the subscribers of this story have to put out regarding it?”, Abdullahi noted.
“The situation is clear. The UBEC requested for an amount from the TETFUND. The UBEC was clearly informed that the funds were only contingent upon satisfactory completion and retirement of the 2005 allocation. Till date, no part of the N722.5 million has been released to the UBEC. The implementation of the procurement has been put on hold due to several factors the most important being the matter is still in court.
“How can money that wasn’t released be referred to as ‘stolen’ money? Where is the proof that this phantom amount was indeed stolen? There isn’t any because the accusation is baseless and untrue. It is a regurgitated rumour brought up to tarnish an innocent man’s reputation”, Abdullahi added.
Abdullahi said Yakubu’s credentials and work experience speak for him.
” His work ethic and scandal free tenure as Executive Secretary is testament of the conscientiousness of the man accused of these wickedly false accusations.
“Passing around of baseless, untrue and wicked stories disguised as the truth is simply unacceptable. A rebuttal is always necessary lest people mistake deception for objective facts”, Abdullahi concluded.
