The Education Secretary of Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, Ishaka Abdullahi, was on Monday, arraigned before Justice Malami Umar Dogondaji of the state high court for fraud.
Abdullahi was arraigned by the Sokoto zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after investigators traced school feeding funds to bank accounts linked to him.
Spokesman of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, said on Tuesday that he was arraigned on six-count charge, bordering on obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N429,000.
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Count one read of the charge read: “That you, Ishaka Abdullahi on or about the 16 November, 2018 at Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did obtain the sum of N135,000.00 (One Hundred and Thirty-five Thousand Naira) from Hassi Abdullahi’s account No. 0077129142, domiciled in Union Bank Plc by false pretence, contrary to Section 1 (1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) same Act.”
According to Uwujaren, Abdullahi pleaded not guilty to the charge, following which prosecution counsel S. H. Sa’ad asked for a trial date and for him to be remanded in prison custody, while defence counsel, Ibrahim Abdullahi prayed the court to grant the defendant bail on the ground that he was standing trial in the same court on a different charge.
The anti-graft spokesman added that “Justice Dogondaji granted the defendant bail on the same conditions that was applied in the earlier charge for which he is facing prosecution in the same court and adjourned the matter till October 12, 2020 for commencement of trial.”
He further revealed how Abdullahi’s alleged fraudulent activity was discovered.
He noted: “Trouble started for Abdullahi following intelligence that established that the nationwide Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP) of the federal government for primary school pupils, has been hijacked by some fraudulent elements in Sabon Birni Local Government for which the Commission’s investigations revealed that one Hassi Abdullahi, who was appointed one of the cooks in the programme and had a Union Bank account number 0077129142 died on March 18, 2019, yet funds were still being channeled to her account from the HGSFP account, totaling N429,000.00 (Four Hundred and Twenty-nine Thousand Naira) which was fraudulently withdrawn.”