Kebbi State Accountant-General, Mohammed Arzika Dakingari and others were sentenced to prison
The Court of Appeal, Kebbi Division has upturned the judgment of a
Kebbi State High Court which discharged and acquitted a Kebbi State
Accountant-General, Mohammed Arzika Dakingari, on charges of conspiracy
and obtaining by false pretence preferred against him and one other by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
He, among other things allegedly used his office as the
Accountant-General, Kebbi State for personal enrichment to the tune of
N1.6billion. Dakingari was charged alongside Musa Yusuf, Managing
Director, Beal Construction Nigeria Limited; a company owned by him
(Dakingari) and used in award various contracts to himself.
Dakingari’s stake in Beal Construction Limited is contrary to civil
service regulation which forbids serving officers from owning
businesses.
Findings by the EFCC at the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC,
showed that Mohammed Bashir Mohammed, Anwal Sadat and Nasir Mohammed,
all sons of the Accountant-General, are directors of the company (Beal
Construction), while two of his brothers, Abduallahi Mohammed and Habibu
Mohammed are the other two directors.
The construction company operates two accounts at EcoBank and Unity
Bank with Dakingari and Yusuf as signatories to the accounts. However,
Dakingari was discovered to operate with two signatures, one in his
official capacity as Accountant-General of the state and the other as
owner of Beal Construction Company Limited.
Analysis of the accounts revealed a total credit of N1.3billion
between May 2012 and September 2013, with most of the receipts coming
from the Office of the Accountant-General and the Kebbi State Ministry
of Finance.
Some of the contracts executed for the state for which Beal
Construction Company received huge payments included the supply of
furniture to 66 secondary schools in Kebbi State valued at N987million;
the connection of water and drainage system at Kebbi Central Mosque
valued at N110million and the building and partitioning of Mohammed
Maira Secondary School valued at N247million.
Upon the conclusion of investigation, the EFCC filed a 20-count
charge of conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence and abuse of office
against Dakingari and Yusuf. The trial court in its determination of the
case convicted and sentenced Yusuf to six months imprisonment while it
discharged and acquitted Dakingari.
Dissatisfied, the EFCC approached the Court of Appeal asking it to
set aside the judgment of the lower court and convict Dakingari as
charged.
The appellate court in its well considered judgment allowed the
appeal by the EFCC, convicted and sentenced Dakingari to 7years
imprisonment each on 10 of the counts preferred against him by the
anti-graft agency. The sentence is, however, to run concurrently.
Only if they will execute it now.
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