FOLLOWING the recent decision made by Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan not to re-appoint
Dr. Ahmed Modibbo Mohammed as head of the country’s Universal Basic Education Commission, online news publishing outfit, pointblanknews.com, has revealed that the decision may not be unconnected to alleged financial improprieties that occurred under Dr. Mohammed’s watch at the Commission.
Specifically, Dr. Mohammed is alleged to have embezzled up to 50 billion naira while his 12-year leadership as executive secretary of the education body lasted, moneys which he allegedly shared with other officials, including the minister for education, Mrs. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i and her junior colleague, Mr. Onyesoh Wike, “with an understanding that his tenure will be renewed for another four years,” the report stated.
According to pointblanknews.com, Mohammed was not only the highest donor to the Arewa Consultative Forum, he also doles out cash at will to the Congress for Progressive Change, and sometimes gives out money to General Mohammadu Buhari in person.
President Jonathan last week flatly refused to renew Modibbo’s dodgy tenure, forcing him to hand over, on Monday, to deputy Executive Secretary (Technical), Professor Charles Onocha.
He is currently at war now with the two Ministers for failing to pressure President Goodluck Jonathan to elongate his tenure, which ended on August 24, 2012.
The the sacked UBEC Boss spent considerable time last Friday supervising the burning of three “Ghana-must-go” bags said to contain official documents. On the same day, UBEC officials confirmed, he raised over 100 payment vouchers for yet-to-be executed contracts, some belonging to companies belonging to his wife.
Modibbo, who spent 12 unbroken years as Chief Executive, National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), and UBEC, is said to have looted at least N50 billion of money budgeted for primary education.
Modibbo allegedly lavished expensive gifts, including choice cars and raw cash on both ministers.
In some instances, he handed them and their fronts contracts to build Almajiri schools and supply textbooks which they printed tax-free in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Malaysia.
Each Almajiri School cost a whopping N185 million.
Wike, it was gathered, cornered to himself contracts to build 15 of such schools. This is in addition to the “returns” Vice Chancellors of federal universities allegedly make to him on a quarterly basis.
A top source at the Ministry of Education captured Modibbo’s frustration at the turn of events, particularly the ministers’ fresh penchant for avoiding him.
The source relayed how Wike had even deceived Modibbo into accompanying him on last week’s visit of President Jonathan to Anambra State. Wike, it was gathered, made the former UBEC boss sponsor the trip all in the name of lobbying Mr. President to change his mind.
An associate of the former UBEC boss also narrated how his friend gave Wike several contracts to print textbooks. The junior minister had reportedly handed the UBEC boss a long phony list of top government officials to be “settled” to pave the way to renew his tenure.
According to the agreement, the Minister of State was to work on President Jonathan to continue to approve of his (Wike’s) endless trips to the states to launch the free textbooks, at the same time approve a second term for Modibbo who came up with such a brilliant idea.
Through Modibbo, Education Ministry sources say, Wike alone made over N5 billion.
Meanwhile, a now sober Modibbo had while handing over, boasted that he won’t be away for long as he would soon be re-appointed by President Jonathan.
A former history teacher at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Modibbo’s second name is controversy. A few months ago, he courted the ire of Sokoto State government by declaring that half of the teachers in the state “cannot read and write.”
In a well-publicized response, Sokoto State accused the then UBEC boss as mischievous, saying his declaration was politically motivated.
“Sokoto State has been accommodating to the UBEC Executive Secretary as he himself knows. He has had very easy access to the administration whenever such need arose and for his personal pursuits, which he has always facilitated using the government machinery. If therefore Professor (sic) Modibbo has found no difficulty in accessing government for his private pre-occupations, he would certainly not experience any encumbrances in getting attention for the more important matter of “illiterate teachers” in the state,” Sokoto State Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Edu Danchadi fired back.
Modibbo was forced out of ABU, in 2007, over a sex-for-admission scandal involving him and 17 female ‘students’, including Aishatu Dahiru. Now member of the House of Representatives, Aishatu, whom ABU expelled alongside 16 other girls, is now married to Modibbo, her former teacher. Interestingly, Aishatu, who represents Yola North/Yola South/Girei federal constituency, has changed her name to Aishatu Binani, apparently to avoid being linked to Modibbo.
Soon after a scheme to blackmail his faculty officer in ABU failed, a disciplinary panel headed by Alhaji Abubakar Gimba, a former president, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), investigated Modibbo. Gimba’s panel indicted Modibbo for running a sex-for-admission racket, and recommended him for dismissal.
ABU Sole Administrator at the time, General Mamman Kontangora effected the dismissal.
Thereafter, the disgraced Modibbo went underground only to resurface in March 2000, as NTI boss. Atiku Abubakar, the Vice President at the time, reportedly facilitated his appointment.
Modibbo’s father was a Girei-based marabout whose services were retained by the former Vice President.
With Atiku Abubakar in charge of the Presidency at the time, Modibbo had not problem securing a second term, in March 2003.
Curiously, at the expiration of Modibbo’s second tenure in NTI, in March 2006, he managed to stay back undetected for another 17 months before Dr. Abba Ruma “redeployed” him to UBEC.
A director in the Ministry, Dr. Patrick Onyekwere was appointed to take over at NTI.
However, with Abba Ruma in charge of Yar’Adua’s kitchen cabinet, Modibbo took charge of UBEC but refused to hand over NTI to Dr. Onyekwere. This stalemate lasted for six months. When Onyekwere’s protests heightened, Ruma terminated his appointment.
Modibbo was quick in nominating one of his lieutenants in the ABU sex-for-admission syndicate, Dr. Aminu Ladan as a replacement, albeit in acting capacity.
Considering the forced exit of Onyekwere, Modibbo found not difficulty in whipping Ladan into line. As grants from Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) office tumbled into NTI, Modibbo stationed his wife, Aishatu, therein as its principal consultant. Her consultancy ranged from printing jobs to make all manner of supplies to NTI.
Aishatu’s Binani Group had tested the waters on the N3.3 billion maiden MDG grant NTI got during Modibbo’s tenure.
He quickly organised a “re-training programme” for 145,000 teachers between 4th and 29th September 2006.
Of the N3.3 billion grant, Modibbo’s girlfriend at the time bagged over N1 billion worth of contracts.
Documents showed that Aishatu’s Binani Group got N325 million to print “manuals”, N315 million for “resource persons,” N222 million to provide “refreshment” for the trainees, and another N101 million for “biometrics.”
Her companies further got N57, 586, 285 for “bank charges,” N71 million, N44 million and N11 million on “general monitoring, stationery and running cost respectively and N10, 641, 352 on “publicity”.
Binani Group also pocketed N34, 094, 128, for “consultancy, and N25, 896, 000 for “post-training evaluation.”
Thus, with the 2007 grant due after he had been “redeployed” to UBEC, Modibbo deployed all resources at his disposal to frustrate Onyekwere whom he feared might not willingly dole out the grant to his wife’s fronts.
Following Ladan’s assumption of office, his former boss in ABU continued to use his girlfriend’s companies to skim off billions of Naira in NTI until 2009 when the “sharing formula” scuttled the otherwise cordial relationship.
- Pointblanknews.com