The Acting Governor of Adamawa State, Alhaji Umaru Ahmadu Fintiri, has disclosed that the former governor Murtala Nyako left a huge debt profile of N82.7 billion.
He made the disclosure at the weekend during a stakeholders’ meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, insisting that the culprits would be brought to book. He said they arrived at this figure after adding the N12.6 billion debt the previous administration left in the state revenue accounts with liabilities uncovered from unsettled pension, monies owed contractors and other funds diverted to non-viable projects totaling over N70 billion. He promised to constitute a judicial panel of inquiry to investigate those involved in plundering the resources of the state.
“We will set up a judicial panel of inquiry. Whoever used our monies to build houses we would have those houses sold and the monies recovered will be returned into the state coffers. Every kobo of Adamawa state must be recovered,” Fintiri said.
The Acting Governor further disclosed that government had put all necessary machinery in place to recover the stolen funds. Accordingly, he called on the stakeholders to join hands with the state government in its bid to recover the over N82 billion funds allegedly looted.
An elder statesman and chieftain of the PDP in the state, Professor Jibril Aminu, also expressed regrets on the role he played in the emergence of the impeached former governor Murtala Nyako as the party’s governorship candidate in 2007.
Pouring out his mind on the state of the state at the stakeholders’ meeting, he said he deliberately pushed for Nyako’s candidature believing that he would use his wealth of experience to turnaround the fortune of the state from the doldrums. But regrettably, he said, his aspiration was betrayed by the ousted governor.
He therefore, appealed to all prospective aspirants to learn from Nyako’s mistakes by ensuring that policies and programmes that are capable of impacting on the lives of the people of the state are implemented when eventually elected.
