● Kefas Akase
The Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested Bashir Bello Ibrahim, a former contractor with the Kaduna State Government and Chief Executive Officer of Formal Act Legacy Limited, over alleged multi-billion-naira contract fraud.
According to the EFCC, Ibrahim is being investigated for fraud amounting to approximately N30 billion. “We received no fewer than 251 petitions against him,” the Commission stated. “The suspect falsely presented himself as a consultant for the 23 local government areas in Kaduna State, as well as for the United Charity Foundation (UCF), FICCORD, claiming affiliation with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Office.”
The EFCC said that despite the termination of a 2020 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ibrahim and the Kaduna State Government in October 2023 over his alleged breach of terms, he continued to parade himself as a government-affiliated consultant.
“He misled unsuspecting contractors into believing he was authorised to award contracts on behalf of the Kaduna State Government,” the Commission revealed. “He fraudulently awarded fictitious contracts worth over N30 billion for the supply of hospital equipment, boreholes, beds, drugs, vaccines, and generators. He received the items, sold some, and diverted proceeds to his personal use.”
Investigators disclosed that Ibrahim allegedly kept the local government councils unaware of the deliveries and failed to pay contractors for the goods supplied. “He warehoused the items and sold some of them through proxies with whom he shared the proceeds,” the EFCC added.
Items recovered from the suspect include Toyota Hilux vans, ambulances, buses, dispatch motorcycles, heavy-duty generators, hospital beds and mattresses, and a large cache of drugs and vaccines.
The Commission is working with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Kaduna State Ministry of Health to evaluate the recovered medical items.
Umar Ahmad Suleiman, Investigation and Enforcement Officer with the Federal Task Force, NAFDAC, said, “Some of the drug manufacturers are registered with NAFDAC, but others are not. While some drugs are still within their shelf life, others have expired. We also found counterfeits whose manufacturers are unregistered.”
Supporting this assessment, Abubakar Isa Balarabe, a pharmacist and Team Leader from the Kaduna State Ministry of Health, noted that the storage conditions were highly substandard. “The warehouse is not fit for storing any type of medicine because of the way and manner the items were kept,” Balarabe stated.
The EFCC confirmed that Ibrahim will be charged to court upon the conclusion of the investigation. GMTNewsng
