Fraud: ‘N11.9b stolen from Kwara treasury between 2011-2019’

At least N11.9bilion of public funds were carted away from the treasury of Kwara State between 2011 and 2019 without any lawful tie to any project or programme, a forensic audit report has revealed, amid other mind-boggling revelations of alleged malfeasance within the period.

The audit also showed that N2billion cash withdrawals not tied to any project or official expenditure were made within eight days in February 2019, barely one month to the general election.

Speaking during the submission of the report to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq yesterday, partner at the SSAC and Professionals Anthony Iniomoh said the report was in two volumes covering Internally Generated Revenue, Capital Receipts, Internal and External Loans, Recurrent/Overhead Expenditure, Personnel Cost (Salaries and Wages), Capital Expenditure, Assets Disposed, Kwara State Internal Revenue Service, Infrastructural Fund Kwara (IFK), Harmony Holdings Limited, among others.

“A few highlights of our findings may be necessary for the record. Our forensic audit showed a colossal pilfering of N11, 981,268,709, which we recommended should be recovered to the public coffers. Similarly, we recommended to the state government to prosecute certain officers and companies in addition to claiming exemplary damages on transactions totalling N6,023,358,444, among other key findings,” Iniomoh said at the presentation of the report.