By Seyi Odewale
The Special Adviser to the Kano State Governor on Tsangaya Education, Sheikh Musa Falaki, has accused former Deputy Governor of Kano State, Comrade Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, of diverting ₦308 million allegedly earmarked for special prayers across the state’s 44 local government areas.
Falaki made the allegation during a video interview aired by Hikima Radio, claiming that the funds were collected in the names of Islamic clerics but never reached the intended beneficiaries.
According to him, the former leadership of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Kano agreed that each of the state’s 44 local government councils would contribute ₦44 million per month for 7 months to sponsor statewide prayers.
He said he and Sheikh Ibrahim Sheshi Maihula were designated to coordinate the exercise but were unaware that money was allegedly being disbursed in their names.
“Sheikh Ibrahim Sheshi Maihula or I received any money or organised the prayers. We only learnt that funds had allegedly been released in our names when the Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission invited us,” Falaki said.
According to him, investigators informed them that ₦44 million was allegedly released monthly for seven months, bringing the total to ₦308 million.
Falaki alleged that since the clerics neither received the money nor carried out the assignment, the funds were diverted.
“If no prayers were conducted and no money reached us, then someone must account for the ₦308 million released for the exercise,” he stated.
The governor’s aide further claimed that the matter was part of an ongoing investigation by the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC), which reportedly directed Gwarzo to refund more than ₦700 million that was allegedly diverted from the accounts of the 44 local government councils.
As of the time of filing this report, Gwarzo had not publicly responded to the allegations.
