Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation, has stated that former Zamfara State Governor, Abdul’aziz Yari, would have been jailed if he was in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Yari, a former chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), is a member of the All Progressives Congress (NGF).
Fani-Kayode made the comment on Friday following the arrest of two Chinese men, Mr. Meng Wei Kun and Mr. Xu Koi, by the Sokoto Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The duo were apprehended earlier this week for allegedly offering N50 million as bribe to EFCC Zonal Head, Mr. Abdullahi Lawal.
The agency is probing a multi-billion Naira contract by a company, China Zhonghao Nig. Ltd.
China Zhonghao is handling N50 billion contracts awarded by the Zamfara State Government between 2012 and 2019.
The contract was for the construction of township roads in Gummi, Bukkuyun, Anka and Nasarawa towns.
It also covered 168 solar-powered boreholes in 14 Local Government Areas of the state.
Reacting on Twitter, Fani-Kayode, claimed that Yari awarded a contract of N60 billion to the company, paid all the money upfront and no work was done.
The politician tweeted: “Abdul’aziz Yari, the fmr. Gov. of Zamfara, is the most filthy, despicable, corrupt & greedy politician in Nigeria. While his people were being slaughtered, he stole billions.
“He awarded a contract of 60 billion to the Chinese, paid all the money upfront, and in the end, no work was done! Sadly, the whole thing is being covered up by the FG.
“If this had been a PDP Governor, he would have been prosecuted & sent to jail long ago. Thankfully, Zamfara has a Governor who knows what he is doing now and has shown that exemplary leadership can bring positive change.”
But in his reaction to the arrest, Governor Bello Matawalle thanked the EFCC for exposing Chinese nationals and the company.
Matawalle, in a statement by his spokesman, Zailani Bappa, recalled his alarm that the China Zhonghao only collected money without executing the project.
He said: “Sometime back, I canceled the unexecuted multi-billion Naira contract awarded to this same Chinese company and called for the refund of the money.
“I call on Mr. President to assist the state government to fast track the retrieval of this money so that we can actually provide water and electricity to the rural areas.”
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