By Aare Abiodun Oluwarotimi, De Oracular Oracle
The above has been the question on the lips of the people of Benue state since the sack of the chairman of the State Electoral Commission, Dr. John Chen became a news in the media.
Recall that there has been calls from several pressure groups to the governor of Benue state, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia to sanction the embattled chairman of the state Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Grace Adagba over the stealing of the Board’s N2.7B under fake, inflated and irregular school contracts.
The calls were also made to the Benue State House of Assembly through the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Dajoh Anodona but till now, nothing reasonable has been done perhaps because Adagba is enjoying a cover from the state government as well as from the legislative arm.
Also recall that the SUBEB N2.7B thief had boasted many times in the public that she has the support of Governor Alia whom she said will never think of her sack no matter how she steals government funds.
Two weeks, Nigerian Concord Newspaper and her media partners investigated the ongoing fraud in Benue SUBEB, and a theft of a whooping N2.7B was discovered and traced to Dr. Grace Adagba.
The newspaper also reported how she had insulted top political office holders in the state who challenged her about the looting and her lopsided school contracts. She was quoted as saying that she is a professional and will never take instructions from politicians.
However, during the investigation, Adagba was contacted by journalists in Benue state so she could give her own account of the story but rather, she called their bluff, threatening to take any newspaper that did a report on the fraud to court.
To fulfill her threat, the Benue SUBEB chairman wrote petitions to the DSS and police headquarters in Makurdi. She ensured that the DSS invited and detained some journalists. One of them is Leonard Ikyem who was forced to write a letter of apology to her. He was also forced to sign an undertaking that he would have nothing to do with the report again. He did so to regain his freedom.
Despite Adagba’s threats, Nigerian Concord broke the story and our investigators in their separate reports gave detailed reports about how she looted the Board to the tune of N2.7B. She was also challenged in the reports to come to the public to deny the reports if she was being lied against. Till now, the media team of Dr. Adagba which has always defended her over little allegations has not been able to counter the weighty allegations made against her by our newspaper. Does that mean that they had agreed that she truly stole the SUBEB’s N2.7B? Silence means consent.
The painful aspect of this is the undeserved cover which the state government and the State House of Assembly have been giving to Adagba despite calls that she should be suspended and probed for the frauds she is being accused of.
The question is, does it mean that Adagba is being protected by some powerful men within Alia’s administration because they were involved in the SUBEB school contracts frauds?
Does it mean that the speaker and members of the State House of Assembly are also protecting Adagba because they had benefited from the N2.7B SUBEB frauds?
If the answer to the above questions is No, then the governor and the speaker should immediately put Adagba under check and probe.
One wonders why Adagba hasn’t been suspended and probed despite threats from Global Media Against Corruption to protest against the state government if she continued to enjoy an undeserved protection after stealing government funds to the tune of N2.7B.
If the BSIEC chairman, John Chen could be sacked for erring, why is it that Adagba, a SUBEB N2.7B thief is still walking freely.
I am Aare Abiodun Oluwarotimi, De Oracular Oracle that eats jollof rice in the shrine.
THROWBACK:
Global Media Against Corruption, GMAC has called on the governor of Benue state, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia to immediately sack the embattled chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Grace Adagba who is being accused of N2.7B school contracts scam.
Global Media Against Corruption is an international media group based in the United States of America and with a Regional Office in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria.
Reacting in a press statement to the allegation of gross financial misappropriation made against Dr. Grace Adagba by some media organizations and private investigators in Makurdi early this week, the Nigeria Regional Director Global Media Against Corruption, Clems Aishida PhD, said that the allegations were too weighty to be swept under the carpet.
The international media group urged Governor Alia to uphold his promise to hand over any of his officials that is accused of any corrupt practice to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC for a proper probe.
Dr. Aishida noted that keeping a corrupt public officer such as Adagba in Alia’s government any further is a sign that the government is not transparent in its fight against corruption in the state.
The Global Media Against Corruption also called on the Benue State House of Assembly led by Speaker Dajoh Aondona to ensure the immediate suspension and probe of the embattled SUBEB chairman.
The group however promised to take the Benue state government to court if it continues to provide a cover for Adagba in the face of the serious allegation of financial misappropriation made against her.
The international media group also noted that it had raised an independent panel of journalists to do further findings about the ongoing contract frauds in Benue SUBEB.
“How can someone sit down in the comfort zone of her office and start awarding government contracts without a due process just because she is close to the governor.
“Is it because of her closeness to the governor that makes her to be reckless in stealing government funds. We implore His Excellency, Father Hyacinth Alia and Rt Hon. Dajoh Anodona to immediately suspend Dr. Grace Adagba and commended a Probe into her activities as SUBEB chairman since she assumed duties”
Recall that this newspaper had few days ago reported how the Benue State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) is presently plunged into a multi-billion Naira contract scam as a result of the reckless and fraudulent activities of the executive chairman of the agency, Dr. Grace Adagba.
The newspaper also reported the declaration of wars against journalists in Makurdi, the capital town of Benue state by the corrupt SUBEB chairman who has been trying to sweep the inflated, fake and illegally-awarded contracts worth over N2.6Billion under the rug.
Most of the contracts according to our independent investigation were awarded by Adagba to her friends and siblings, her personal companies, politicians and government drivers. Some of the primary schools contracts were awarded, sold and re-awarded at a higher rates at the instance of the chairman.
In her attempt to cover up the massive frauds, the SUBEB chairman with the help of three of her Board members, Prince Andy Uwouku, Mr. Paul Ebe and Dr. Joseph Jande who also benefited from the fraudulent activities had written a petition to the Benue state Commissioner of Police and the Director of DSS in the state to invite any journalist that publishes anything related to the matter for questioning and possible detention until such reporter writes an undertaking to quit the investigation.
Recall that a media influencer in the state, Leonard Ikyem was recently invited and detained by operatives of the DSS in Makurdi. He was forced to write a letter of apology to the SUBEB chairman. He was also made to write an undertaking to quit the investigation.
Apart from stealing over N2.6Billion contract funds, Dr. Adagba according to investigation by this newspaper also conered several million of Naira from the money approved to train staff on public procurement processes and the automation of staff payroll system.
As part of the cover up plans, Dr. Adagba has instructed the Cashiers of SUBEB not to provide the Board’s financial information to any investigator being it police or journalists.
When contacted over the phone, Dr. Adagba who boasted of her relationship with Governor Alia as a leverage refused to comment on the SUBEB contracts which she had awarded and still awarding for political patronage without any due process.
She also refused to explain why all the SUBEB projects were sited in one particular region of the state when contacted by our reporters in Makurdi