Full details of how Governor Yari allegedly stole billions of Naira, bought a house in United States while his people die in Zamfara
Did you know that Governor Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari of Zamfara State allegedly stole millions of Naira barely two years he assumed office?
In this post, we’ll tell you how the outgoing chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum illegally diverted millions of Naira meant for the development of his state to buy property in far away United States. The document indicting him was first published by an online medium Sahara Reporters.
His political career
Born in 1968, Mr Yari first won election as the governor of the state in 2011 under the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
Following the merger of the ANPP and several other opposition parties, Yari became a member of the All Progressives Congress, contested and won reelection under APC in 2015.
Image result for Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State
Yari began his political career upon return of Nigeria to a civilian rule in 1999 and served as the Secretary of the defunct All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) between 1999 and 2003 and later became the Chairman of Zamfara chapter of the party.
SEE CASH DONATION!!!
Photo of Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State donating N20 million cash to Islamic sect known as JIBWIS in an event yesterday. This is same man abandoned citizens in IDP camps and those kidnapped!@USEmbassyAbuja @AmnestyNigeria @segalink @SKSolaKuti pic.twitter.com/sxEiMnAvhh
— Adeyemi Juwon (@juwon2017) February 3, 2019
Other positions he held before becoming Zamfara governor include:
ANPP National Financial Secretary
Member representing Anka/Talata Mafara Federal Constituency
Yari’s political supremacy became more pronounced in the April 26, 2011 governorship election in Zamfara when he defeated the incumbent governor Governor Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, incidentally, Shinkafi is his father-in-law.
Image result for Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State
Shinkafi was a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the time he was kicked out of office by a politician, whom one of his daughters is married to.
Yari corruption profile
The 2017 report by Sahara Reporters, revealed how the outgoing governor of Zamfara state bought a property in the United States for a princely sum of N343,244,500 in today’s exchange rate ($950,000)
According to the online medium, Yari bought a 2.1-acre property which is located at 14800 Bowie Farm Court, Bowie Maryland (Zip code: MD 20721) which has six full and two half bathrooms with a jacuzzi in the master bedroom.
Sahara Reporters which said it’s in possession of deed documents linking the Zamfara born politician to the property claimed that the document was obtained from the Circuit Court of Prince George’s County, Maryland, USA.
Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari reportedly bought the property from a limited liability company, K Hovanian Hamptons, located at Creek 11, Delaware.
According to the report, K Hovanian Hamptons was formerly known as as Real Property Holding, with an address at Prince George’s County, before changing its name on January 25, 2011.
The deed on the property is dated August 27, 2012, while the approval of the purchase was granted on November 1, 2012 after Yari paid the princely sum of $950,000 cash, there was no mortgage on the property.
Tax paid on the property till 2017
According to Sahara Reports, Governor Yari had paid millions of naira in tax on his U.S property.
It was gathered that the deed document revealed that Yari paid N1,887,844 ($5,225) as “recordation of tax paid” and N4,805,423 ($13,300) described as “transfer tax paid”, both offering indications that Mr Yari operated a foreign account in clear breach of Code 3 of the Code of Conduct Bureau.
A real estate property tax information obtained by Saharareporters from Prince George’s County shows that Governor Yari paid taxes on the property up till date, his 2017 estate tax was N5,991,603 ($16, 583.10).
It was alleged that Yari bought the property after he awarded N25billion in road contracts in Zamfara in 2012.
What Code of Conduct says about state officials
The code of conduct law expressly prohibits certain public officials from operating bank accounts in any country outside Nigeria.
These include the President, Vice President, governor, deputy governor, ministers, commissioners, members of the National Assembly and the Houses of Assembly of the States. Unfortunately, most of the Nigerian politicians allegedly operate foreign accounts and buy properties worth billions of Naira across the World.
It was further gathered that Yari personally signed the deed document while Kimberley Armstead a notary public of Montgomery County State of Maryland, serving as a witness.
Yari’s hotel in Lagos
Apart from his U.S home, Yari is said to have some domestic investments in Nigeria, unfortunately, they are investments executed through dubious means.
In May 2017, Sahara Reporters reported that Yari was building a 100-room hotel in Lekki, Lagos, with N1,083,930,000 ($3million) he stole from the Paris Club loan refund to states. Aside from the $3million, Mr. Yari was also found to have diverted the sum of N500million from the Paris Club refund to pay off a loan.
He was said to have withdrawn N500million from the N19billion Paris Club refund illegally paid into the account of Nigerian Governors’ Forum as payment to “consultants”.
It was also alleged that Yari deposited the stolen sum into a bank account with a mortgage bank from which he had taken an N800million loan to buy properties in 2013. This move, according to the online medium, enabled him to renegotiate his debt from N800million to N500million.
Image result for Abdulaziz Yari and Buhari
Yari is thought to have trousered the sum of N2.2billion from the sum illegally diverted into the Nigerian Governors’ Forum Account by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The outgoing Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, was also indicted as it was alleged that he benefited from the illegal diversion of N3.5billion, which is being investigated by the EFCC.
What’s the EFCC doing about these corruption allegations?
At the time of this report, governors in Nigeria are covered by law which prohibits the incumbent governor from corruption allegation. Yari is a beneficiary of this law.
However, it was gathered that Nigerian anti-corruption agency EFCC is aware of Yari’s hotel, which is under construction, as a proceed of crime and will be taken over once the EFCC obtains a court order.
Yari has denied ownership of any hotel in Lagos, claiming he does not even own a plot in Nigeria’s commercial capital.
His reaction to challenges in his state of Zamfara
According to a media report, in 2017 over 1000 persons died as a result of a meningitis epidemic with Yari’s Zamfara leading in the number of deaths. At the peak of the epidemic, Yari reportedly said the epidemic was the punishment from God against his people for their sins.
During security challenges in his state, he urged President Muhammadu Buhari to impose a state of emergency on Zamfara, while he also claimed that bandits, who have killed hundreds of people in the state, are better equipped than security operatives.
“In one armoury alone, they have over 500 AK47; we saw it. Our people were even given the chance to take pictures,” he was quoted by the Vanguard.
Under his watch, more than 2,000 people were killed within seven years in Zamfara State, reported The Punch and he resigned as the chief security officer of the state in 2018.
While the carnage was going on, he threatened to “kill” the National Chairman of his party Adams Oshiomhole when there was political tension in the country before 2019 general elections.
