2023 Election: APC caucus drag Bauchi governorship candidate Air Marshal Abubakar, minister/wife Sadiya to EFCC over alleged corruption

Ahead of next year’s general elections, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been asked to probe allegations of corruption against former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar Sadique, and his wife, the minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Hajia Sadiya Umar.

The All Progressives Congress Youth Vanguard tasked the anti-graft agency in a letter to its Chairman, Ibrahim Bawa.

The letter titled, ‘The Plot by Former CAS Abubakar Sadique and Sadiya Umar to Procure Bauchi State with Proceeds of Corruption: Need for Urgent Investigation and Probe’ was signed by its president, Mohammed Usman Dikko. Sadique is the governorship candidate of the APC in Bauchi State.

According to the group, Sadique and his wife are trying to procure the 2023 governorship election in the state with proceeds of corruption.

“It is instructive to state that in the buildup to the APC gubernatorial primaries in the state, it is on record that Air Marshal Abubakar Sadique (rtd) spent several millions of dollars to secure the ticket of the APC with the help of some party stalwarts in the state and Abuja,” the letter reads.

“It is also on record that since he was nominated as the APC candidate in Bauchi state, he has been on a spending spree with monies that surpassed his income as a former public officer. This much we reliably gathered was in conjunction with his wife, who currently serves as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs.

“The Executive Chairman may wish to recall that during the stint of Air Marshal Abubakar Sadique as Chief of Air Staff, he was enmeshed in a series of corruption allegations that he got away with by virtue of the office he occupied.

“You may wish to recall that the National Security Adviser, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, had revealed that funds running into billions of naira meant for procuring arms and ammunition under the past service chiefs, including Air Marshal Abubakar Sadique, were unaccounted for.

“You may also recall that the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management has been described as a cesspool of corruption, lacking transparency and accountability, with hundreds of billions unaccounted for under her stewardship. The APC Youth Vanguard has it on good authority that proceeds from these corrupt acts by the duo of Abubakar Sadique and Sadiya Umar has been deployed towards securing electoral victory at the gubernatorial elections in Bauchi State.

“This is on the heels that a colossal amount of monies have been earmarked for this purpose for vote buying and other acts such as compromising officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Nigerian Police Force and other security agencies that are part of the electoral process in the country.

“We have it on good authority that the APC candidate has reached out to prominent religious and political leaders in the state with mouthwatering offers of financial inducement towards securing their support at the elections. In some instances, cars worth several billion have been procured and distributed to stakeholders in the state to secure their support.

“The APC Youth Solidarity Vanguard is alarmed at such a flagrant display of ill-gotten wealth by the Abubakar Sadique and Sadiya Umar duo, which by all indications is above their remuneration as public officers. The implication is that the duo has amassed public funds through corrupt practices by virtue of the offices they occupied, which is indeed an economic and financial crime”.

The APC Youth Solidarity Vanguard, therefore, appealed to the EFCC to revisit the various corruption allegations levelled against Sadique while he was Chief of Air Staff, running into billions of naira meant for arms purchase in the prosecution of the war against terrorism in the country.

The group are also called on the anti-graft agency to probe of the finances of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs since Umar assumed leadership of the ministry.

“Specifically, the National Social Investment Program, NPOWER, the National Home Grown School Feeding Program, and other social interventions under the supervision of her ministry during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, including how the N2.67bn meant for school feeding during the COVID-19 lockdown ended up in private bank accounts, and payments of N729bn to 24.3 million poor Nigerians”