Fraud Allegations Rock Zamfara Govt Over N5billion SURE-P Funds

Allegations of corruption and diversion of funds
are spreading in Zamfara state after a youth
group went public with a demand that the
governor gives account of how he spent over
five billion Naira SURE-P funds.
The group, the Zamfara chapter of the Northern
Youths Association (NYA), called a press
conference Monday where it demanded that the
state government give public account of how it
spent funds accruing to the state from SURE-P.
“Though funds received by the state
government under the SURE-P program stands
at over N5 billion now, there is nothing to show
for it in terms of youth development,” chairman
of the association, Mannir Haidara, said.
He alleged that the state governor, Abdulaziz
Yari, may have mismanaged the SURE-P funds
and did very little to “empower youths” in the
state.
He said despite promises, the state government
failed to pay the registration fees for May/June
2013 SSSCE for students from the state to
collect their results and seek higher education.
“We cannot boast of being good leaders of
tomorrow when we are not even allowed by the
present crop of our leaders to go to school,”
Mr. Haidara said.
In a swift reaction to the allegation, the
Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Birnin-
Magaji, said the state government channelled
the SURE-P funds into capital projects,
especially roads rehabilitation and construction.
“Right from the time we started receiving the
funds, we sat at council level and resolved that
instead of making it merry go round, we will
create avenues that will open up opportunities
to our unemployed youths and we considered
the provision of access roads as one of them.”
Mr. Birnin-Magaji also said the state
government utilised the funds by encouraging
the establishment of private sanitation outfits,
which employed over 200 youths as street
cleaners across the state so far, which has
“greatly impacted positively in the lives of our
youths.”
Mr. Birnin-Magaji is however yet to release a
detailed statement of account to back his
claims.
A growing demand for accountability and
transparency, especially by younger Nigerians,
has put the country’s politician on the spot,
with many failing to come up with convincing
explanations when challenged to render
accounts of public funds at their disposal.
Recently, the federal lawmakers – members of
the House of Representatives – were unable to
account for N750 million they received for a
constitution review exercise after another youth
group filed a Freedom of Information request
demanding financial statements.
The youth group now appear set to head for the
courts to extract the desired financial statement
from the federal lawmakers.
And so is the Northern Youths Association in
Zamfara.
“If the state government fails to render account
of how it managed the SURE-P funds, the
association will have no option than to take the
matter to court,” Mr. Haidara said.