The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) will arraign Zangina Galadima Zango, the Caretaker Chairman of Rimin Gado Local Government Area in Kano State, over the alleged illegal use of N9 million in LGA funds, in breach of a Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy.
Dr. Musa Usman Aliyu SAN, the ICPC Chairman and CEO, will lead the arraignment in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/479/2024, filed on Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
In the charge sheet sighted, Zango, while serving as the Caretaker Chairman of Rimin Gado Local Government Area, is accused of indirectly using N9,150,000 from the funds allocated to the said Local Government Area for the purchase of drugs through Messrs. Novomed Pharmaceutical Limited.
According to the ICPC Chairman, the defendant breached the judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which forbade caretaker chairmen of Local Government Areas in Nigeria from accessing LGA funds from the federation account.
The anti-graft agency also accused the defendant of engaging in such acts without the necessary approval, as enshrined in the law.
According to the ICPC’s proof of evidence, the Commission received an intelligence report regarding the alleged misuse of funds from the Rimin Gado Local Government Area for the purchase of drugs through Novomed Pharmaceuticals Limited, amounting to N9,150,000.00.
It alleged that, despite the contract sum exceeding the defendant’s approval limit, the defendant nominated and forwarded the name of Messrs. Novomed Pharmaceuticals Limited to the Ministry of Local Government Affairs, Kano State, for approval.
“While awaiting approval from the Ministry, the defendant awarded the alleged contract and paid the contractor, Novomed Pharmaceuticals Limited, the total contract sum of N9,150,000,” the ICPC stated.
The ICPC accused the defendant of making this expenditure as Caretaker Chairman and not as an elected Chairman of Rimin Gado Local Government Area, in breach of the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy.
“You reasonably ought to have known that these funds formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act, to wit: corruption, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 (2) and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022,” the ICPC 3-count charge partly reads.
No date has yet to be fixed for the arraignment by the court, so the defendant can take his plea.