By Yekeen Nurudeen

The Director General of the ruling All Progressive Governors’ Forum, Saliu Mohammed Lukman, is now at the centre of a scandal rocking the forum over whereabouts of over N60 million meant for victims of Nyanya, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja bomb blasts in 2014.

Victims of the blasts, which occurred in Nyanya on April 24, 2014 and May 1, 2014, are alleging that the DG embezzled the fund donated by the APC Governors Forum for their rehabilitation.

Governors under the auspices of APC Governors Forum had on May 11, 2014 in Kano State agreed to contribute N10 million each from which N100 million would be set aside for the Nyanya bomb blasts victims while the balance of N60 million would be set aside as kick off grant for the renovation of Federal Government College, Bunu Yadi, Yobe State and Government Girls Secondary, Chibok, Borno State, both destroyed by the Boko Haram Terrorists.

The Governors it was gathered contributed over N100 million for this purpose.

The DG had also in an internal memo dated July 7, 2014 addressed to the Chairman of the Forum proposed a template for the payment to the victims, and recommended N300,000 for deaths, N300,000 for major injuries and N100,000 for minor injuries.


While a total of 214 victims were verified for the payment, a sum of N45 million was computed as funds needed to compensate them. A sum of N10.65 million was also listed as administrative cost. In the list of victims, 38 were listed as dead, 65 as having major injuries while 111 had minor injuries.

However, three years on, the victims of Nyanya bomb blasts who had been verified have claimed they are yet to receive any compensation from the forum, even as many of them have been reported dead. The victims made the claim in a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, filed on their behalf by the law firm of I.C Ejiofor and Co.

In a petition to the EFCC, a copy of which is in possession of icirnigeria.org, the victims allege that the DG, who is a sole signatory to one of the three accounts of the Forum’s domiciled with United Bank for Africa; UBA, has used his office to empty the account while the victims are still waiting to get what the Governors promised them.

The account with number 1017701180 (UBA PGFI, Governors Account 2) was opened to warehouse contributions by the Governors’Forum towards the rehabilitation of the Nyanya bomb blasts victims and other special projects.


According to documents obtained by our reporter, the DG made several unauthorized withdrawals from the account under spurious headings such as IOUs to himself, Office expenses and Special projects.

An audit report of the Governors’ Forum accounts by an accounting firm, Olaleye and Co, obtained by our reporter also revealed that the three bank accounts of the Forum were not operated in line with the laid down procedure just as the firm pointed out unauthorized withdrawals from special project funds account where the bomb blasts victims’ funds were domiciled.

In the audit report, the firm noted that unauthorized cash advances to the DG which were not accounted for at the end of the year 2014 amounted to N67, 626,567.

The firm suggested a review of the signatory to the special projects fund account in the Financial Statement prepared for the year 2014.

Findings by the icirnigeria.org revealed that the Governors approved the commencement of disbursement process to the bomb blasts victims on July 7, 2014 after the verification of the victims.

To verify the victims, a temporary secretariat was established at Grand Mirage Hotel, Area II Abuja while a verification team consisting of three volunteers, a medical consultant, financial consultant and a legal consultant was constituted...

Read more here the piece is quite lengthy.

source: http://icirnigeria.org/governors-forum-boss-in-blast-victims-fund-embezzlement-scandal/

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