When Dr. Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa was elected governor of Sokoto State in 1999, on the platform of the All People’s Party(APP) there was no indication that he owned a goldmine in the state, or anywhere in the world. Also, his mandatory asset declaration form filed with the relevant authorities, did not show that he was worth N1 billion in cash and estate holdings. And from day one Bafarawa wasted no time waging a an intense battle against Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, his deputy whose overwhelming popularity in the first place made his election a walk over.
Alas, when Bafarawa finished a largely uneventful eight-year tenure in 2007, because of his arrogance and refusal to consult he emerged a multi billionaire, with many unanswered questions about the sources of his stupendous wealth. But Attahiru Bafarawa certainly has a way with helping himself to the commonwealth. He is currently facing trial for allegedly collecting more than N4 billion from the Office of the National Security Adviser to arrange prayers for the then drowning government of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Indeed, here is the classic image of a man of rapacious greed and avarice a true apostle of primitive accumulation of wealth from the public Treasury.
Dr. Bafarawa’s self-evident malfeasance appeared to have been swept under the carpet, and rarely spoken about in public, until September 18, 2024, when in his continued war against Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, more than a severely wounded conscience pushed him to unwittingly open a can of worms that is threatening to destroy him. He called attention to the rotten skeletons lurking in his cupboard. On that fateful date, the former governor set up the Alhaji Lawal Maidoki Committee that he personally set up manage his endowment of N1 billion, in what was widely seen as cheeky attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of men, and bribe the Almighty to overlook and forgive his mindless plundering of resources belonging to the people of Sokoto State entrusted to his care.
Bafarawa’s “Giving Back” mockery would have been tolerable to men of good conscience, if only he had desisted from lacing his inauguration speech with malicious lies, baseless fabrications and distorted truths. One of his lies, which had been exposed several times in the past 17 years, was his claim that he “left a whopping N13 billion in the coffers of (Sokoto) State Government by the time he left office” in 2007.
The ‘N13 billion lie” was obviously told to impugn the integrity of his successor, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, who would have had to explain how he spent Bafarawa’s fictitious “whopping N13 billion”. Bafarawa’s apologists nevertheless continued to amplify his lie as evidence of his spectacular performance as governor, and to support his ill-fated bid to become the president on platform of the defunct Democratic People’s Party (DPP), in 2007.
After careful investigation by different stakeholders, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the truth was established and very well documented, that Attahiru Bafarawa who wants to be seen as a saint did not leave N13 billion for his successor. Indeed, the Transition Committee set up by the incoming administration of Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko and the functionaries of the outgoing Bafarawa administration were able to jointly reconcile a total sum of N7.91 billion in cash balances and stock values as at the end of April, 2007. But this was just the credit side of the story.
On the debit side, there were contractual liabilities that amounted to N5.34 billion; overdrawn government accounts totalling N2.39 billion, and accumulated interest on World Bank facilities amounting to N502 million. Altogether, Bafarawa left a liability of N8.24 billion for the incoming administration. Clearly, Bafarawa did leave an empty Treasury. He had a debt or negative balance of N300 million, and not his fictional N13 billion lodged in the dark pit of his imagination.
This brings us to the other lies told by Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa on the day he unveiled his phoney Giving Back initiative. He mocked the good people of Sokoto State by claiming that he “ensured that the resources of the state were prudently managed” during his years in office. Nothing could be further from the truth. The relevant question to ask is, if Attahiru Bafarawa applied the resources of Sokoto State very judiciously, where then did he get the funds to buy several choice properties in Dubai, United Arab Emirates?
Online reports, which Attahiru Bafarawa is yet to deny shows that Bafarawa’s name is linked to at least seven choices properties, with an estimated value of over N12 billion ($8.042 million). One of the properties is a 5-bedroom flat at the second floor of Al Thanayah Fourth, used for commercial purposes. The property, which covers a space of 573.21 square feet, is currently valued at 1.344 million US Dollars. Another Dubai facility linked to Bafarawa, also located in the Al Thanayah Fourth vicinity, measures 559.22 square feet and is valued at $1.405 million. Similarly, Bafarawa’s wife, Jamila, owns a respectable house worth over $750,000 at Palm Jumirah in Dubai.
Considering the stupendous wealth Dr Attahiru Bafarawa, amassed one can readily understand the heavy burden of guilt on his heart that compelled him to seek the face of the Almighty through a questionable Giving Back to the people project. He came close to admitting to the offence of plundering the commonwealth of Sokoto State when he confessed that, while in office, he could have “through acts of omission and commissions, misappropriated funds that could have gone into productive and rewarding venture”. In simple language, the former governor openly admitted that he looted public funds (through acts of omission and commission) to buy houses abroad, and is now giving back a small portion of the loot to buy favour from men, and “buy” forgiveness from the Almighty.
Indeed, an honest man can make an atonement for his sins. But such atonement must arise from true repentance and purity of heart. Bafarawa’s atonement would fail because it did not go far enough, nor was it based on truth. You do not steal a whole chicken and wish to make an atonement with a feather. He should dispose all of his properties in Dubai and repatriate the proceeds to the coffers of the Sokoto State Government, instead of setting up a philanthropic foundation to launder his waning image.
Again, he should publicly retract, and henceforth desist from repeating, the malicious lies about bequeathing a whopping N13 billion to the government of Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, when he actually left a negative balance of N300 million, after lavishing N500 million of borrowed money in payment of severance package to a retinue of office holders who helped him to ravage Sokoto State, especially during his second tenure in office.
For reasons that have been clearly discussed, Dr Attahiru Dalhatu Barafawa does not deserve a round of applause for trying to do a restitution by deception, or for giving back a pittance after deepening misery among the common people. Promoting misery was exactly what he did through mindless plundering of the resources of a poor state to fund his primitive and ungodly acquisition of houses home and abroad.
Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa, like Edo State people go talk am should come to terms with the fact that Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko,na him oga and say person wey pass person don pass am. Since Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, became governor in 2007 he has determined the direction of Sokoto State politics.
Gatekeepers News is not liable for opinions expressed in this article; they’re strictly the writer’s
