Court documents reveal how ex-Bauchi Accountant-General allegedly syphoned N40bn

Fresh court documents have revealed how former Bauchi State Accountant-General, Dr Sa’idu Abubakar, allegedly obtained billions of naira in loans using forged government approvals and diverted the funds through non-existent motorcycle supply contracts without the approval of Governor Bala Mohammed or the State Executive Council.

The details are contained in a 16-count amended charge filed before the Bauchi State High Court by the state government, accusing the former Accountant-General of fraud, forgery, deception, criminal breach of trust, abuse of office and diversion of public funds estimated at about N40 billion.

According to the prosecution, Mr Abubakar used forged State Executive Council resolutions, House of Assembly resolutions and Irrevocable Standing Payment Orders, ISPOs, to obtain loans from United Bank for Africa, UBA, Plc and Polaris Bank Plc on behalf of the Bauchi State Government.

The charge alleged that the approvals that were presented to the banks were never authorised by Governor Bala Mohammed or the State Executive Council.

Prosecutors further claimed that the former Accountant-General deceived both the Clerk of the Bauchi State House of Assembly and the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government by falsely representing that the governor and the Executive Council had approved the loan facilities.

According to the court filings, the alleged deception led to the issuance of resolutions by the State Executive Council and the House of Assembly that were subsequently used to process the loans.

READ THE FULL COUNTS BELOW:

COUNT ONE: That you, Dr. Sa’idu Abubakar, male, of No. 10 Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State, between the 7th day of December, 2023 and the 9th day of January, 2024, in Bauchi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while serving as the Accountant-General of Bauchi State and being a public servant entrusted with control over funds belonging to the Government of Bauchi State, dishonestly misused and converted to your own use or for unauthorized purposes, funds derived from a loan of N3,000,000,000.00 (Three Billion Naira) fraudulently obtained from United Bank for Africa Plc, for a non-existent contract purportedly for the supply of 5,000 (Five Thousand) motorcycles, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 315 and punishable under Section 312 of the Bauchi State Penal Code Law, 2022.

COUNT TWO: That you, Dr. Sa’idu Abubakar, male, of No. 10 Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State, on or about the 7th day of December, 2023 to 9th January, 2024, in Bauchi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, deceived the Clerk of the Bauchi State House of Assembly and the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to the State Government, by falsely representing that the Governor and the State Executive Council had approved the securing of a loan facility from United Bank for Africa Plc, and thereby dishonestly induced the issuance of a House of Assembly Resolution and a State Executive Council Resolution respectively, which acts would not have been done but for your deception, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 320 (b) and punishable under Section 322 of the Bauchi State Penal Code Law, 2022.

COUNT THREE: That you, Dr. Sa’idu Abubakar, male, of No. 10 Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State, between the 3rd day of April, 2023 and the 15th day of April, 2023, in Bauchi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while serving as Accountant-General of Bauchi State and entrusted with control over public funds belonging to the Government of Bauchi State, dishonestly misused and converted to your own use or for unauthorized purposes, funds derived from a loan of N4,600,000,000.00 (Four Billion, Six Hundred Million Naira) fraudulently obtained from Polaris Bank Plc, for a non-existent contract purportedly for the supply of 15,000 (Fifteen Thousand) units of motorcycles to Civil Servants in Bauchi State and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 315 and punishable under Section 312 of the Bauchi State Penal Code Law, 2022.

COUNT FOUR: That you, Dr. Sa’idu Abubakar, male, of No. 10 Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State, on or about the 3rd day of April, 2023 to 15th April, 2023, in Bauchi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, deceived the Clerk of the Bauchi State House of Assembly and the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to the State Government, by falsely representing that requisite approvals had been obtained for a loan facility from Polaris Bank Plc, and thereby dishonestly induced the issuance of House of Assembly and State Executive Council resolutions respectively, which acts would not have been done but for your deception, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 320 (b) and punishable under Section 322 of the Bauchi State Penal Code Law, 2022.

COUNT FIVE: That you, Dr. Sa’idu Abubakar, male, of No. 10 Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State, between the 10th day of August, 2023 and the 5th day of September, 2023, in Bauchi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while serving as Accountant-General of Bauchi State and being entrusted with control over public funds belonging to the Government of Bauchi State, dishonestly misused and converted to your own use or for unauthorized purposes, funds derived from a loan of N3,360,000,000.00 (Three Billion, Three Hundred and Sixty Million Naira) fraudulently obtained from United Bank for Africa Plc, for a non-existent contract purportedly for the supply of 7,000 (Seven Thousand) units of motorcycles to Civil Servants in Bauchi State and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 315 and punishable under Section 312 of the Bauchi State Penal Code Law, 2022.

COUNT SIX: That you, Dr. Sa’idu Abubakar, male, of No. 10 Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State, on or about the 10th day of August, 2023 to 5th September, 2023, in Bauchi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, deceived the Clerk of the Bauchi State House of Assembly and the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to the State Government, by falsely representing that the loan facilities obtained from United Bank for Africa Plc had been duly approved by the appropriate authorities, and thereby dishonestly induced the issuance of House of Assembly resolution and State Executive Council resolution respectively, which acts would not have been done but for your deception, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 320 (b) and punishable under Section 322 of the Bauchi State Penal Code Law, 2022.

COUNT SEVEN: That you Dr. Saidu Abubakar, male, of No. 10, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State, between the 7th day of December, 2023 and the 9th day of January 2024 in Bauchi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court while acting as the Accountant General of Bauchi State, fraudulently or dishonestly used as genuine, documents which you know or had reason to believe to be forged, to wit; Bauchi State Executive Council Resolution dated 8th January, 2024; Bauchi State House of Assembly Resolution dated 9th January, 2024, and an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) dated 7th December, 2023 to obtain or procure on behalf of Bauchi State Government, an unauthorized loan from United Bank for Africa Plc, (UBA) to the tune of Three Billion Naira (N3,000,000,000.00k) to be paid out in monthly instalments of N119,153,213.92 from January, 2024 to December, 2027 in favour of Emmanuel Asomugha General Enterprises with account No. 1024492613 domiciled with the Bank, for a non-existing contract for the supply of 5,000 (Five Thousand) units of motorcycles to Civil Servants in Bauchi State and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 362, punishable under Section 360 of the Bauchi State Penal Code Law, 2022 and triable by this Honourable Court.

COUNT EIGHT: That you Dr. Saidu Abubakar, male, of No. 10, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State between the 7th day of December, 2023 and the 9th day of January 2024 in Bauchi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court while acting as the Accountant General of Bauchi made a false document, to wit: an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) dated 7th December, 2023 for the repayment from the Bauchi State Government Consolidated Revenue Fund Account (CRF-TSA) of an unauthorized loan from United Bank for Africa Plc, (UBA) to the tune of Three Billion Naira (N3,000,000,000.00k) for a non-existing contract for the supply of 5,000 (Five Thousand) units of motorcycles to Civil Servants in Bauchi State which forged document was used as genuine with the intent to defraud the Government of Bauchi State and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 359, punishable under Section 360 of the Bauchi State Penal Code Law, 2022 and triable by this Honourable Court.

COUNT NINE: That you Dr. Saidu Abubakar, male, of No. 10, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State between the 3rd day of April, 2023 and the 15th day of April, 2023 in Bauchi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court while acting as Accountant General of Bauchi State fraudulently or dishonestly used as genuine, documents which you know or had reason to believe to be forged, to wit; Bauchi State Executive Council Resolution dated 3rd April, 2023; Bauchi State House of Assembly Resolution dated 15th April, 2023 and an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) dated 4th April, 2023 to obtain or procure on behalf of Bauchi State Government, an unauthorized loan from Polaris Bank Plc, to the tune of Four Billion, Six Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (N4,650,000,000.00k) to be paid in monthly instalments of N189,837,250.25 from May, 2023 to April, 2026 in favour of Emmanuel Asomugha General Enterprises with account No. 4091707386 domiciled with Polaris Bank, for a non-existing contract for the supply of 15,000 (Fifteen Thousand) units of motorcycles to Civil Servants in Bauchi State, which forged documents were used as genuine with the intent to defraud the Government of Bauchi State and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 359, punishable under Section 360 of the Bauchi State Penal Code Law, 2022 and triable by this Honourable Court.

COUNT TEN: That you Dr. Saidu Abubakar, male, of No. 10, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State between the 7th day of December, 2023 and 9th day of January 2024 in Bauchi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court while acting as the Accountant General of Bauchi made a false document, to wit: an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) dated 4th April, 2023 for the repayment of an unauthorized loan from Polaris Bank Plc, to the tune of Four Billion, Six Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (N4,650,000,000.00k) from the Bauchi State Government Internally Generated Revenue Consolidated Account (CRF-TSA) No. 1771048166 domiciled with Polaris Bank for a non-existing contract for the supply of 15,000 (Fifteen Thousand) units of motorcycles to Civil Servants in Bauchi State which forged document was used as genuine with the intent to defraud the Government of Bauchi State and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 359, punishable under Section 360 of the Bauchi State Penal Code Law, 2022 and triable by this Honourable Court.

COUNT ELEVEN: That you Dr. Saidu Abubakar, male, of No. 10, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State between 10th August, 2023 and 5th September 2023 in Bauchi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court while acting as the Accountant General of Bauchi State, fraudulently or dishonestly used as genuine, documents which you know or had reason to believe to be forged, to wit; Bauchi State Executive Council Resolution dated 17th August, 2023; Bauchi State House of Assembly Resolution dated 5th September, 2023 and an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) dated 10th August, 2023 No. 1024492613 to obtain or procure on behalf of Bauchi State Government, an unauthorized loan from United Bank for Africa Plc, (UBA) to the tune of Three Billion, Three Hundred and Sixty Million Naira (N3,360,000,000.00k) only, to be paid out in monthly instalments of N136,339,917.85 from September, 2023 to August, 2026 in favour of Emmanuel Asomugha General Enterprises with account No. 1024492613 domiciled with the Bank, for a non-existing contract for the supply of 7,000 (Seven Thousand) units of motorcycles to Civil Servants in Bauchi State and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 362, punishable under Section 360 of the Bauchi State Penal Code Law, 2022 and triable by this Honourable Court.

COUNT TWELVE: That you Dr. Saidu Abubakar, male, of No. 10, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi LGA, Bauchi State between the 7th day of December, 2023 and the 9th day of January 2024 in Bauchi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court while acting as the Accountant General of Bauchi made a false document, to wit: an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) dated 10th August, 2023 No. 1024492613 for the repayment from the Bauchi State Government Consolidated Revenue Fund Account (CRF-TSA), of an unauthorized loan from United Bank for Africa Plc, (UBA) to the tune of Three Billion, Three Hundred and Sixty Million Naira (N3,360,000,000.00k) for a non-existing contract for the supply of 7,000 (Seven Thousand) units of motorcycles to Civil Servants in Bauchi State and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 359, punishable under Section 360 of the Bauchi State Penal Code Law, 2022 and triable by this Honourable Court.

COUNT THIRTEEN: That you, Dr. Saidu Abubakar, male, of No. 10, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi Local Government Area, Bauchi State, between the 7th day of December, 2023 and the 9th day of January, 2024, in Bauchi, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while acting as the Accountant-General of Bauchi State, did have in your possession forged documents, to wit: Bauchi State Executive Council Resolution dated 8th January, 2024 and Bauchi State House of Assembly Resolution dated 9th January, 2024, knowing the same to be forged and intending that the said forged documents be used fraudulently or dishonestly as genuine to obtain or procure on behalf of the Bauchi State Government an unauthorized loan of ₦3,000,000,000.00 (Three Billion Naira) from United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 364 of the Penal Code Law of Bauchi State, 2022, triable by this Honourable Court.

COUNT FOURTEEN: That you, Dr. Saidu Abubakar, male, of No. 10, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi Local Government Area, Bauchi State, between the 3rd day of April, 2023 and the 15th day of April, 2023, in Bauchi, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while acting as the Accountant-General of Bauchi State, did have in your possession forged documents, to wit: Bauchi State Executive Council Resolution dated 3rd April, 2023, and Bauchi State House of Assembly Resolution dated 15th April, 2023, knowing the same to be forged and intending that they be used fraudulently or dishonestly as genuine to obtain or procure on behalf of the Bauchi State Government an unauthorized loan of ₦4,650,000,000.00 (Four Billion, Six Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) from Polaris Bank Plc, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 364 of the Penal Code Law of Bauchi State, 2022 and triable by this Honourable Court.

COUNT FIFTEEN: That you, Dr. Saidu Abubakar, male, of No. 10, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi Local Government Area, Bauchi State, between the 10th day of August, 2023 and the 5th day of September, 2023, in Bauchi, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while acting as the Accountant-General of Bauchi State, did have in your possession forged documents, to wit: Bauchi State Executive Council Resolution dated 17th August, 2023 and Bauchi State House of Assembly Resolution dated 5th September, 2023, knowing the same to be forged and intending that they be used fraudulently or dishonestly as genuine to obtain or procure on behalf of the Bauchi State Government an unauthorized loan of ₦3,360,000,000.00 (Three Billion, Three Hundred and Sixty Million Naira only) from United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 364 of the Penal Code Law of Bauchi State, 2022, triable by this Honourable Court.

COUNT SIXTEEN: That you, Dr. Saidu Abubakar, male, of No. 10, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Housing Estate, Bauchi, Bauchi Local Government Area, Bauchi State, between the 3rd day of April, 2023 and the 9th day of January, 2024, in Bauchi, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while acting as the Accountant-General of Bauchi State and being, a public servant entrusted with property or any dominion over property (funds of the Government of Bauchi State) in your capacity as such public servant, procured unauthorized loans on behalf of the Bauchi State Government from Polaris Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), and thereby committed criminal breach of trust contrary to and punishable under Section 311 of the Penal Code Law of Bauchi State, 2022, triable by this Honourable Court.