Governor Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari of Zamfara State and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum has allegedly diverted N500 million from the recent Pa
Governor Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari of Zamfara State and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum has allegedly diverted N500 million from the recent Paris Club refund to pay off his loan, an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) source has revealed to Sahara Reporters.
According to the source, Mr. Yari withdrew N500m from the N19 billion Paris Club refund allegedly diverted to a special account of the Nigeria Governors Forum from the N522b allocated to the 36 states and deposited the sum into a mortgage bank account. According to the EFCC, “Of the N19 billion, we discovered that a consultant brought by the North-West governor was paid N2.2 billion. From the N2.2 billion, the governor got N500 million.”
Mr. Yari then transferred the sum to the mortgage bank from which he had borrowed N800m to purchase to properties in 2013. According to the source, the governor was able to renegotiate his debt from N800m to N500m. The EFCC, however, traced the sum, knowing it was connected to Mr. Yari and the Paris Club loan. The mortgage bank then forfeited the N500m to the EFCC.
