The Chairman Board of Trustees (BoT), Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, Wazirin Dutse, is at the centre of the storm in the crisis in the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) over alleged high-handedness and financial irregularities. In this interview, he says the N3.9 billion donated to the Forum has yielded over N60 million profit and welcomed the idea of forensic audit. IDIBIA GABRIEL reports

So many issues around the ACF, where is the problem?

Let me first of all begin by sincerely apologising to our people in the North for our seeming inability to hold together this very precious institution called the ACF. ACF today is one of the few credible institutions standing in the North, and for us to be publicly displaying such insensitivity to our situation is most unfortunate. So, for me, I have to apologise because it’s a deep failure for us, from us to our people.

Secondly, the controversy has now gravitated towards and around my person, but it ought not to be. I am the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ACF and, recently, six senior members of ACF, including the former Secretary-General and also former Vice Chairman of the BoT, had petitioned the BoT to say some members of the Board and the National Executive Council’s tenure had expired. And they required or requested the BOT to acknowledge that and also contact the Leadership Selection Committee for appropriate search and appointment to fill the vacancies.

This request came to us and, during the BoT meeting, I read the letter to our members and, of course, quite a number of people wanted to speak in support of this matter, but I decided to say, ‘no, we are not going to discuss this matter now, here, because a lot of the people mentioned were not available.’

But I was going to hand over this request to the Secretary for him to study it and also give the other members the opportunity to reply within weeks, and that was done. Other issues were discussed and we left the meeting.

After that, the Secretary-General, Murtala Aliyu responded to me, but his response, which I believe you have a copy of, essentially says that his tenure has not ended and that he still had about a year ahead and that he would want me to accept that position at his request.

Now, I took his request. I read the Constitution. I compared the two and, because in his letter he quoted another letter giving him an appointment when we came in. In our own batch, they wrote us letters of appointments. I think and I believe they inadvertently also gave the Secretary-General and some other people similar letters.

Now, the Secretary-General has been an ongoing officer appointed on March, 10, 2020. He was given a handover document from the previous one, Anthony Sani, on the 23rd of March, 2020.

But this letter that they gave us together with Murtala, he has decided to say, no, he is going to start counting from our own date, from that letter. But even that letter says your appointment, tenure, and duty would be in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.

What does the constitution say?

Now, the provisions of the Constitution are very clear. Any member of the National Working Committee has three years, renewable one more time. So even if you get this letter and it says it must be in accordance with the Constitution and provisions, then you have to go back and start counting. Okay, the Constitution gave you three years. What was the first date of your appointment? You see March 10, 2020, that’s one. Two, the next paragraph says, and your tenure begins on the day you are inaugurated.

Now, of course, for me, a newcomer, my inauguration is when I am handed the seal of office. But for him, inauguration as an English word means the time you effectively take possession of office or begin to work or whatever. He effectively started work on March 23, even though he was appointed on the 10th.

So even if we want to extend that, the same letter he is arguing on says it’s when he was inaugurated, and check the definition of inauguration. The day Anthony Sani handed over the notes, that was his own inauguration, and it ran like that. He was not the only person who was given this letter and whose tenure also expired. But as of today, he is the only person contesting; every other person, including the Deputy BoT Chairman and Vice Chairman, are not complaining.

Why did they now say there will be a committee to investigate financial impropriety? Which money? Is it the endowment amounting to N3.9 billion?

I like that idea. I was very happy and I support them to do so. But I have already written a letter to the Commissioner of Police in Kaduna to say, ‘Please come and investigate suspected financial misappropriation.’ And my letter is already there with the police. So, it is a very happy, healthy coincidence that they too are looking for the same thing. And I have also instructed one of our senior people in Kaduna to locate an independent auditor so that they can do the forensic thing.

.What happened to the N3.9 billion endowment money?

Ahead of the endowment, I called Murtala. I said to him, ‘We are not going to mix endowment money with your current account. So, we must have a separate bank and a separate account.’ He protested at the beginning, but he understood where I was coming from and conceded. ACF has always taken money for paying salaries, doing this and that, buying generators and things like that. And the endowment fund is in there? It is impossible. It will not happen. So, I said, ‘Look, we have to open a separate account.’ He asked where, and he mentioned some banks. I said no, we were going to Jaiz Bank.

Let me tell you. I led a distinguished group of people to meet very senior, very rich Northern Nigerians. I stood there; I spoke. I placed my own honour and everybody else’s on the line. I said, “If you give us this money, we promise that we will do the best we can to make sure that it is administered in the most transparent, decent and honest way, with integrity. And that every quarter, we will bring you a report of what we used this money for.”

So, whether anybody gave us N10 billion, I was still going to give every one of them a quarterly report on the activities of the endowment fund. I also told them that I was not going to be involved in the management of the endowment. We were going to have a separate committee made up of people with vast experience in the various fields we were going to tackle. So that they could see that we involved people and that we were walking the talk.

So, my fear is always that it is my word. And these people I went to and spoke to, I believe they trusted me enough to give their money. Not just me, but an array of Northern dignitaries. So, I told Murtala, ‘As ACF, one of our leading philosophies is to assist Northern interests, either in business or trade. Unless we do not have a Northern bank, business or company, then we will go elsewhere. Therefore, we are going to Jaiz Bank.’

And because of this phobia, I said I had an account with Jaiz Bank and that we would open it there. I had the account because I knew the people and I could monitor things and make sure that nothing happened because I did not trust them in Kaduna.

Was that the reason, after the account was opened, it was transferred to Kano?

No, it was not transferred. It was opened in Kano because I sent the forms from Kano. When the forms came from Kano, they sent some staff from Jaiz in Kaduna. I said no, we were going to Kano. So, it was not even opened in Kaduna at all.

Are you saying the claim that the account was opened in Jaiz Kaduna, but later, at your instance, moved to Kano, is not correct?

No, it is not true. Staff of Jaiz Kaduna came in, I don’t know how, but maybe they heard about it or Kano informed them.

Was this one of the reasons they said there was financial impropriety?

Yes.

Is any money missing from the N3.9 billion?

This N3.9 billion has already earned another N60 million to N70 million because when I put the money there, I said, ‘Okay, before this committee that will handle this thing comes on board’ — I envisaged maybe it would take three months. So, I told Jaiz Bank — they don’t do interest, I think they do profit-sharing — and Murtala and I signed the bank account opening documents. You understand? It is not like I am going to be a signatory to the account.

But they said you are a signatory now…

No, I am a signatory for the purpose of opening the account, but this account has never operated. When the management committee sits, they will appoint their signatories to the account, those who will sign cheques, not me. But I needed to sign the papers to open the account. But this account has never been used. This N2.5 billion has earned N63 million now. Then I said the remaining N1.4 billion should also go there.

Why are some members saying you have monopolized everything?

Pure mischief because I am not going to run the account myself. I did not just dump it there and look away. I deposited it and made sure it generated more money before this committee took over. So, I am glad even Murtala, I heard him in one of the radio interviews, said there is no money missing.

There were reports that some money was missing…

You know our culture in the North, people react irrationally and there was mischief. And because you get 10 per cent of information, you think that is 100 per cent and you go to the press, you go to town, you go into discussions. This money is there intact. But I am not going to let anybody interfere with it before I hand over to the committee. The advisory committee to this management committee is chaired by Wakilin Adamawa, who is assisted by Major General Magoro rtd.

So, you are happy there is going to be a forensic examination of the ACF finances?

Of course, I am very, very happy. In fact, I am not even relying on some nominal forensic examination. I have gone to the police. I have filed a complaint for the police to come and investigate our accounts. And if they see my name linked to one kobo, I will resign from the ACF.

Are there other members asked to go who are challenging your decision?

None of them, till now, gave me any letter to say I do not agree, I must continue, except the Secretary-General. So, I wrote him back to say I have compared this, but I have a problem; my understanding of this letter and the provisions of the Constitution are such that I am incapable or handicapped to support your position. Therefore, I advise you, like others, to please hand it over.

And I sent a copy of that letter to the Chairman of the Leadership Selection Committee (General Haliru Akilu rtd), and also wrote him a letter to say this is my opinion and this is what I think is correct. Therefore, I requested the Leadership Selection Committee to sit and provide, even if on a temporary basis, someone who would take over from him until they finish, because the exercise is widespread. They have to sit and look at the whole North and locate people and then appoint them.

If I concede to Murtala’s request, it means that I cannot stop anybody else, either now or in the future, who would want to arbitrarily extend his tenure. I would be establishing a precedent and it will be very messy in future. It will become problematic.

Anyway, when the thing was becoming quite a bit untidy, the Chairman of the Leadership Selection Committee, General Haliru Akilu, decided that maybe he should put together a small committee of elders to look at this matter and try to find a way out, an amicable way out, and requested the Ajiyan Katagum, Alh. Yayale Ahmed, to host the meeting. He invited, of course, Mamman Mike Osuman, who is the Chairman of the National Executive Council, Murtala, the Secretary-General, myself, Anthony Sani, the previous Secretary-General, and Bukar Zarma, the Secretary of the Leadership Selection Committee. Mike didn’t come.

The issue was discussed extensively, and I made this point I’m making to you now, to them, that the position is such that we cannot, in all honesty, begin a precedent that will become problematic in the future for ACF, and that we, as a group of elders, must have the strength of character to make sure that our Constitution is obeyed.

Other people made points, but in the end, not what I wanted, not what Murtala wanted, maybe not what other people wanted, but a compromised position was attained. The decision is that all of them, including the Secretary-General, their tenure expired on March 10, 2026. Two, their positions became vacant as of March 10, 2026. Three, because Murtala made a case correctly that he was in the middle of arrangements for his son’s wedding, he needed time to put things together and, in the end, it was agreed that, yes, he would have up to the 15th of May to hand over.

Not that his tenure was extended to the 15th of May as secretary-general. His tenure, like the other people’s, terminated on the 10th of March, but for purposes of just handing over, he could go and do whatever personal things he needed to do and then hand over papers to whoever would be appointed acting secretary. He was there, he was part of the decision, he agreed, he showed no sign of any disagreement.

So, a communiqué was drafted and signed by the chairman, General Akilu. It was meant to go out, but I said, no, ‘let us still maintain and keep it in-house. What I will do is take the communiqué, call a BOT meeting, and then read it there. And that’s what happened.’

I called a meeting of the BOT, we discussed other matters, but this communiqué was part of our deliberations. I read it out; I asked whether anybody had any comment or complaint or whatever, nobody. Murtala was sitting there and he made no sign of objection or disagreement, and the communiqué was adopted.

So, a few days after, my attention was called to some posts on social media platforms and Murtala was calling for an emergency meeting of the National Executive Council. Now, because he had ceased to be the Secretary-General, he no longer had the constitutional or legal backing or position to call for a meeting. And because I knew something negative was happening because of the chairman himself, which is another thing that I will talk about later, I sent in a notice to say Murtala Aliyu, the Matawallen Gombe, is no longer the secretary-general of the ACF and, therefore, he is not in a position to call this meeting. Therefore, I advised against the holding of the meeting.

I think soon after, or a day after, the chairman of NEC (Mamman Osuman), rejected the name because he calls himself Chairman of ACF, which is unknown to the Constitution, by the way. He put in a countermanding notice to say, or I think he asked the Publicity Secretary or something, to overrule me and say the meeting must go on.

In the interim, I was made to understand that someone had complained against me to a disciplinary committee of the ACF. This disciplinary committee was constituted and inaugurated by Mike, the Chairman of NEC, only about three months ago. All the other standing committees of ACF had not been working since Mike became chairman. None of them, maybe finance and general purpose, which is chaired by Waziri, but not one committee had ever met to do anything.

And I was told that, and I knew the motive, unfortunately. So some other person, I think, advised against what they were trying to do because already a very cloudy, unpalatable atmosphere had pervaded the stories and rumours.

The secretary-general also wrote to the chairman of the selection committee to say to him that, look, your own committee has expired. This committee was established by the General Assembly of the ACF, not even the BoT or NEC. Why did he say so? Because he had already seen where the thing was going.

So, of course, we were told they were going to meet, they were going to reject that the secretary’s tenure had expired; they were going to suspend me, including all the others. Let me tell you that at the time when I read the communiqué at the Board of Trustees meeting, we also established three committees: one, the Endowment Fund Management Committee; two, the Advisory Committee to the Endowment; three, the Committee to Review the Constitution of ACF.

This review of the Constitution of the ACF had been an ongoing problem, an ongoing demand, an ongoing desire, an ongoing necessity. And 13 years ago, Mamman Mike Osuman was appointed the Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, 13 years ago. Till date, he has not written one word, not one paragraph.

It was when we came in that I said, let’s look at this Constitution. But this day, we constituted these three committees. And because of the demand for integrity and the fear of any form of suspicion or accusation from our vast membership, which is usually dormant until something like this happens and everybody now has a mouth to say something, we were very careful to select some of the best people we have to constitute these committees so that we can hand over to them the matter of looking around at what programmes, what problems, what projects we need to quickly begin to address.

Because for 25 years, ACF had been crying and whining about Arewa having no this, Arewa having no that, there is no education. Our children, 15 million of them, are on the streets. The farmers can’t farm. The security problem has become absolutely impossible to eradicate, the almajiri thing, so many problems. Our children are forced to take their exams on a computer when 80 per cent of them in the North have never, ever seen a computer. But they will have to write there. So these are things that this body would be required to do immediately when they start work.

We are no longer going to be talking anymore. We have to now start to be seen actually practicalising what we have always been preaching. But we couldn’t do anything because we had no money. ACF, in these 25 years, had never, ever put together more than N200 million at a time. This N200 million was put together during the 20th anniversary celebration, which didn’t take place.

When they moved to another place for the NEC meeting in Kaduna, two things came up. Number one, they said you were suspended. What is the position of that in the eyes of the Constitution of the ACF? Secondly, they said there will be a forensic audit, alleging there must have been financial improprieties from your end…

Excellent. I like these two questions. Now, anybody who has the ability to read English would understand that the BOT, by our Constitution, if you are the Board of Trustees of ACF, you own ACF. You own physical assets. You own tangible assets. You own intangible assets. You own everything.

Including financial assets?

All assets. Money is an asset, a financial asset in particular, and it lodges in the authority and jurisdiction of the BOT. And there is no argument about that because the Secretary-General himself, each time he wanted money to be brought down from the deposit in the bank so they could use it, would come to me with a written application for me to approve. So, the question of who owns the money and who controls the money is settled.

Let me address the suspension first. The suspension is not only funny and ridiculous; it is, in fact, irresponsible because all of them know the correct thing. They know they do not have the power or authority or any semblance of legitimacy to get to that level. It is like you build a house and live in your house and you have your staff say he is suspending you. That is what it looks like. They know that it is clearly deliberate irresponsibility. They know they do not have the power. It has no ground or position in law. And they are just doing it to further drag ACF into public ordeal. And for that, I don’t think it is really funny.

The NEC chairman is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria…

The NEC chairman is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, but he is flouting the law. He is disgracing himself by refusing to read, understand and apply the law for his own personal reasons. The personal reason is that, by hook or crook, he must protect the Secretary-General because the ACF NEC chairman, and I told him so in writing, has converted ACF into a feeding bottle that I am determined to stop.

How do you mean?

Feeding bottle in the sense that he is a beneficiary of illegal disbursement of our meagre resources. The ACF, as a body, is a voluntary organisation. Nobody working there is placed on any salary or allowance. I have been there for two and a half years. I have never taken a kobo from ACF. I have gone to meetings countless times. I have taken care of myself. I have never received or enjoyed ACF’s one kobo. And I dare challenge them to show any place that I received a kobo.