As the saying goes “those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.” The flip side of that quotation is that “those whom a god wishes to destroy, he first deprives of reason”. This is the objective reality of Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, one-time governor of Sokoto State who, in football parlance, scored an unforced own goal by his open admittance and confession about his activities while in office. But that it was only a paltry sum of N1 billion that he recollects having stolen from the public treasury which the good people of Sokoto State entrusted to his tender care between 1999-2007.

Bafarawa, without doubt, needs a forensic accountant to help him dig deeper and determine what he truly owes the people of Sokoto State, because it is possible that he took more than N1 billion. Hear him: “At no time can this giving back philosophy of mine be more auspicious and compelling than now that the people are passing through hard times occasioned by the harsh economic climate in the country. It’s against this background that I have decided to make available the sum of N1 billion for the welfare and well-being of the people of Sokoto State“.

It’s only the gods that can blind Saint Bafarawa to the implications of his admittance that he took such money and the possibility of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) reopening his prosecution over his alleged misappropriation of N15 billion based on his disclosure which a Sokoto State High Court in 2018 discharged him on the grounds that the anti-graft agency failed to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubts.

Since 1999, destroying Wamakko, aka Alu politically may have been Bafarawa’s main preoccupation. For instance, it has been alleged that he has been working hard to drive a wedge between Dr. Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto, the incumbent governor, and Senator Wamakko.

Even if the EFCC decides not to reopen the N15 billion corruption case, it can use his admission in his prosecution on the 25-count charge before the Federal High Court Abuja over the diversion of N4.6 billion from the former National Security Adviser, bordering on criminal breach of trust and diversion of public funds. Hate truly blinds and the gods are truly at work.

We will deal with the issue of how Bafarawa came to the conclusion that he only took N1 billion, the issue of interest and why he didn’t pay the money back to the coffers of the Sokoto State Government, from where it was taken, rather than setting up the Alhaji Lawal Maidoki Committee to manage the funds in what he claims is a restitution.

Not done with his tales about the N1 billion from the Sokoto State Government, Bafarawa went further to claim that he left N13 billion on his handover in 2007 to Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, who succeeded him, against his wishes. In effect, Bafarawa is asking Wamakko to account for the N13 billion he left behind, an allegation that has been debunked by the banks and the EFCC.

In a speech at an event tagged “Giving Back” organized by the Attahiru Bafarawa Foundation, Attahiru Bafarawa said: “As governor, I ensured that the resources of Sokoto State were prudently managed. It was against this background that I left a whooping N13 billion in the coffers of the Sokoto State Government by the time I left office in 2007”. His admittance rubbishes the claim that he managed the resources prudently.

According to Aminu Abdullahi, the former Accountant-General of Sokoto State, Bafarawa was economical with the truth. Abdullahi, in several media interviews after the Bafarawa disclosure, vehemently rejected the claims and disclosed that the former governor “left only N284 million in the United Bank of Africa (UBA) Consolidated Revenue account of the state. So, the question is, where is the N13 billion Bafarawa claimed he left?”.

Hear Abdullahi:”It’s baffling that despite findings by the Namadi Abdulrahman panel, the banks and the EFCC that former governor Bafarawa never left such an amount, he continues to repeat his false claims that he left N13 billion which records from the United Bank of Africa (UBA) which held the VAT and main accounts of the state contradict”.

Continuing, Abdullahi said “We have a letter with reference NO. UBA, S, O, K 2 C, C, AG, Volume 153, of July 22 signed by the United Bank of Africa which held the main accounts of the government. In that letter, account number 02929071207107 for VAT as at 29 May, 2007, had N7,328,557 and another current account had N254,538,429. As far as we’re concerned, this is the record that we have as of 29th May 2007”.

There are so many gaps in the Bafarawa matter. Did he make a gain from investing the amount taken? Can returning what he took be described as giving back to the Sokoto State people? These are questions that the return of N1 billion, which is definitely a poor attempt by Bafarawa to legitimize stealing, have been raised.