Group Exposes Plan to Divert N22m World Bank Education Intervention Fund in Kano
AREWA AGENDA – A group of concerned citizens of Dawakin Tofa Local Government area of Kano State has petitioned the Education Secretary of the council, Ado Abdu-Kwa, to Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, over alleged attempts to divert N22,140,000 World Bank education intervention fund.
According to a report by DAILY NIGERIAN, the World Bank and a conglomerate of bilateral and international development partners had initiated the Global Partnership for Education, GPE, to support communities around the globe that suffer a serious neglect in education, in which Kano state has been selected as a beneficiary from the Northwest region.
The newspaper gathered that 11 local government areas in Kano, including Dawakin Tofa had been selected to benefit from the intervention fund in 100 primary schools, starting with 58 as first batch.
It was also gathered that the GPE national coordination team had recently disbursed the sum of N383,000 to each of the 58 beneficiary schools at the Local Government as part of the intervention grant to support school activities.
The monies were paid to the accounts of all beneficiary schools where the chairmen of School Based Management Committees, SBMCs and School Head Teachers serve as the signatories of the accounts.
According to the guidelines of the GPE grants, the SBMCs and the leadership of the schools are responsible for designing and implementing projects within the schools to use the grant.
Insiders told DAILY NIGERIAN that similar practices of diverting the education intervention funds occur in all the 11 local government areas selected by the World Bank.
In a copy of the petition to ICPC, dated July 20 and obtained by the news medium, the group alleged that Mr Abdu-Kwa had convened a meeting on July 13 and directed all the headmasters of the 58 schools and coalition of the SBMCs that received the N383,000 intervention fund to transfer them to a private account he provided.
According the petition, signed by one Muhammad Sanusi Danyaya, the group alleged that following the directive, the ES also convened another meeting with head teachers and SBMCs on July 14 and repeated the same directive.
The group alleged that when the headmasters and the coalition of the SBMCs resisted his directive, the ES then told them that it was an order from the Kano state Commissioner of Education to ensure that the total amount sent is transferred to the account given to them.
In the petition, the group stated that the head teachers and the SBMCs vehemently resisted the directive, insisting that “the standard operating procedure of the grant gives community representatives the power to decide on how to judiciously use the money and keep records of all expenditures with accountability mechanism put in place.
Read Also:
“In his effort to ensure that the money is diverted, the Education Secretary Ado Abdu Kwa, invited the head teachers again to the third meeting on Monday, 20th July, 2020 by 10am at the same venue where he threatened them to ensure an immediate transfer of the said money on or before Friday 25th July, 2020, as all other ten beneficiary LGAs in Kano state are cooperating on this deal, otherwise, they will lose their jobs.
“The head teachers insisted that they cannot withdraw any amount without a counter signature of the SBMC chairperson which is the requirement for money withdrawal from the account,” the group said in the petition.
However, the group further alleged that the ES, in an effort to persuade the head teachers and SBMCs, reviewed the directive, asking them to transfer N350,000 to the account provided to them and share the remaining N33,000 among them.
“Under this development, the Education Secretary decided to call for another meeting with combination of all head teachers and representatives of the SBMCs to inform them on the new sharing formula to ensure that the money is paid to the stated private company’s account, latest by Friday 25th July, 2020.
“The next meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 21st July, 2020 by 10am at Dawakin-Tofa Model Primary School, a long Science College road, Dawaki town, Dawakin-Tofa local government area.
“You may wish to note that the plan is, after this meeting, any SMBC representative who agrees to countersign the cheque would be rewarded with a token as mentioned above and the cheque would immediately be cashed at Unity Bank Dawanau branch, Polaris Bank Dawanau branch or Zenith Bank Kofar Ruwa branch.
“Sir, it is my hope and prayer that your office, would do everything legally possible to abort this gross attempt to divert public resources meant for providing access to quality education in Dawakin Tofa local government area of Kano State,” the group appealed to the ICPC.
When contacted, the state Commissioner of Education, Sunusi Kiru, initially denied knowledge of the matter, and directed our inquiry to Mr Abdu-Kwa.
But when our reporter asked further, Mr Kiru said that “the arrangement is that no intervention is provided without the consultation of the beneficiaries to present their problems in written to the body that is willing to give the grant.
“The beneficiary would provide the work plan for the intervention. Even without requesting the work plan, the government might decide to do some projects uniformly with the intervention fund.
“So, it is in order if schools are given intervention funds and the government subsequently said it wants to do some projects with the fund. The schools did not seek the intervention.
“If the schools requested for the intervention, then it is the government that determines what to do with the funds. But if they did not request for the intervention, but some organizations decided to support them, then it is the government that has the mandate to direct them on what to do with the intervention funds.
“However, I advise you to contact the ES first, and then you get back to me,” he said.
All efforts to reach the ES proved abortive as his known telephone line was not reachable.
A text message sent to him did not deliver as at the time of filing this report.
Arewa Agenda is a Publication of young writers from Northern Nigeria towards Peaceful Coexistence and National Development through positive narratives
