FORMER governor of Kwara State Abdulfatah Ahmed has described the report of a forensic audit indicting his administration of financial misappropriation as preposterous and unfounded.
Ahmed said this in a statement released on Thursday by his spokesman Wahab Oba.
The ICIR has earlier reported that the audit report commissioned by the Kwara State government disclosed that about N11.9 billion was stolen from the state’s treasury between 2011 to 2016 under his administration.
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Reacting to the report, the former governor explained that every expenditure during the period under review was properly appropriated and followed due process.
Ahmed said since he left office three years ago, the accounts have been properly audited by various auditing agencies and had been certified.
The former governor also challenged his successor to account for how the state government spent about N.3 trillion accruing to it in the last three years without commensurate infrastructural development.
Ahmed, who governed the state between 2011 and 2019, accused the incumbent government of dragging Kwara into massive debt.
Parts of the statement read: “Since we left office more than three years ago, the accounts have been properly audited by various auditing agencies and had been certified. Any query now, six months to election, on the legality or otherwise of the expenditure, are after thought and politically motivated.
“Rather than search for what is not lost or embark on political vendetta, this government should account for more than N.3 trillion accruing to it in the last three years without commensurate infrastructural development.
“The debt profile of this government is unprecedented in the history of Kwara State. As at today, Kwara State is paying not less than N1.3 billion monthly as interest on various largely unaccounted for loans.
“As recently confirmed by His Excellency, AbdulRahman AbdulRazak in his guided chat with his media agents, N17 billion out of N27 billion bond is “sitting in a bank” while the state continues to pay interest on it.
“This raises a lot of questions as to the reason the bond was taken in the first place, If there were infractions as alleged, there are laid down procedures for correction.”
The former governor advised his successor to tell Kwarans when last he held a State Executive Council meeting to approve various contracts and other expenditures.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.