Youths from Zamfara state under the aegis of Health, Safety and Environment Charity Initiative, on Monday, protested in front of the headquarters of the Independent Corrupt and other related Practices Commission (ICPC) in Abuja, over the alleged diversion of N300 million released for Zamfara Central health sector constituency project.
The leader of the group, Aminu Ahmad, after submitting a petition at the ICPC office, told journalists that the group came to bring to the notice of the ICPC the diversion of N300 million meant for the procurement of health care facilities at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Gusau, Zamfara state.
He explained that the procurement was a constituency project of Senator Kabir Garba Marafa for the benefit of his constituency.
He said the project was captured in the 2013 budget; the money was released by the Federal Ministry of Finance to the Federal Ministry of Health since 2013, adding that, all available records indicate that all necessary funds were released.
He said, “We are very surprised to discover that the project was not executed in Federal Medical Centre, Gusau despite the release of the N300 million to the Federal Ministry of Health.”
“From available records we have, the former Minister of Health that served from 2011 to 2014, in connivance with the former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health had diverted the money,” he claimed.
Ahmed, while reading from the petition said, “We seek your intervention, to kindly investigate the circumstances surrounding the diversion of the funds meant for the good people of Zamfara state with a view to righting the wrongs by ensuring full execution of the proposed project in FMC Gusau, Zamfara state to the benefit of the citizenry.”
He also said attached to the petition submitted to the ICPC are copies of documents from the Federal Ministry of Finance confirming the release of the funds as well as other documents from the ministry on the issue in question.
The spokesperson of the ICPC, Rasheedat Okoduwa, while addressing the petitioners at the entrance gate of the ICPC thanked them for not resulting into lawlessness but coming to make a formal complaint to the statutory body established to investigate such matters.
She said, “Now that you have submitted the petition, we assure you that we shall look into it; any offence anybody commit or had committed since the establishment of ICPC and the passing of the law in 2000. Any offence of corruption committed falls under the purview of the ICPC and would be investigated.”
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