Posted by Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, the Nigerian Governor’s Forum (NGF) Director of Media and Public Affairs, has written to AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq, the NGF chairman and governor of Kwara State, accusing AbdulRahman of corruption and a lack of openness in the organization’s management.
Top executives at the NGF Secretariat in Abuja are at loggerheads over allegations of financial theft and carelessness, and the leaked letter further revealed a split inside the organization.
According to Barkindo, the NGF is currently more focused on transactions than development, which has a negative impact on the secretariat’s operations.
His position was that it is not a change agent but rather “a conduit pipe for a few individuals.” In order to protect NGF from the “prying eyes of governors in the name of NIGOFO among others,” he sought a forensic audit of all NGF accounts, including those opened during crisis moments.
Barkindo stated that the NGF accounts had not been audited in at least ten years, emphasizing that the Forum and its funds had been seized by a small group of persons.
“The secretariat’s accounts have not been audited in the last decade to say the least, and even the phony auditors invited to mock the auditing process have at various times confessed that the job they are doing for the secretariat is a wash,” the letter reads in part.
Has anyone ever pondered why a company that handles massive financial transactions, such as the Paris-London refunds, does not employ a certified public accountant? An organization’s overall yearly revenue is seventy million naira, even though the company earns more than three billion naira. Everyone who works at the Forum is constantly wondering where the money goes. A staff member makes twenty dollars per month, or N20,000.
“There have been cases. It was an intentional move to bring disrepute upon you among your colleagues to withdraw N630 million from the N5 billion infrastructure assistance fund, which led to an argument among governors while you were chairman.
There was a lack of sufficient briefing from the secretariat. They were told to lay booby traps and other hurdles in your way from their master’s residence across the street. Here I am, bearing witness. Chairman of the Forum, former Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, was supposed to reward NGF employees with N850 million of the over N19 billion the NGF made on the Paris-London Club deal that the NGF mediated.
“To protect NIGOFO and other entities from the scrutiny of governors, I believe the NGF should conduct a forensic audit of all of its accounts, including those opened during times of crisis.”