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 mentioned 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 in 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 had 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 bank.
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 for 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.
