– Bala Mohammed was
appointed by former
President Goodluck
Jonathan, while he
presided over the country
in acting capacity – Part of the many ‘sins’
he allegedly committed
included cornering 12
choice plots worth billions
of naira and 37 other
commercial plots to a suspected front – Some top officials of the
Federal Capital Territory
are also under
investigation for their
alleged roles in the
reported fraudulent activities that went on at
the ministry A former Federal Capital
Territory minister, Senator Bala
Mohammed, and his son,
Shamsudeen Bala, have
reportedly lost four houses
worth N872 million to the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC). Bala Mohammed with children Bala Mohammed with children Bala, who served under former
President Goodluck Jonathan, is
also under investigation for
alleged fake contracts worth
about N1 billion, according to a
report by The Nation. The EFCC is further investigating
him for allegedly allocating 12
choice plots worth billions of
naira and 37 other commercial
plots of land worth about N8
billion to one Tariq Hammoud, his suspected front. He is again under investigation
for a controversial N1 trillion
Abuja land swap. The report said over 16
companies linked with fictitious
contracts awarded by the
former minister had been under
surveillance and their owners
investigated by EFCC. The report said the EFCC
questioned top directors of the
Federal Capital Territory
administration, including that of
treasury, Ibrahim Bomoi; land,
Babayo Mainasara, and Abuja Geographical Information Service
(AGIS), Ms Jamila Tangaza, wo is
linked to N800 million
questionable contracts and who
has been battling for bail in the
last one week in detention. The minister and the other
officials are being probed over
petitions received by the anti-
graft agency since 2013. The report also quoted a top
source as saying: “We are
probing the immediate past
minister of FCT on many
allegations against him, including
award of N1 billion fictitious contracts; abuse of office by
allocating 12 choice plots to his
son and 37 other commercial
plots worth about N8 billion to
Hammoud, who is suspected to
be his front; land swap, among others. READ ALSO: Fani-Kayode’s aide accuses EFCC of vendetta,
rights violation “Some of the petitions against
Bala Mohammed had been
pending since 2013. Initial
findings showed that the ex-
minister used fictitious
companies to award contracts worth N1 billion in FCT. In one
instance, a man with three
companies was allowed to bid
for one slot. “About 16 companies used for
fictitious contracts are under
investigation because they did
not supply items credited to
them. “We have also uncovered how
Bala allocated plots of land to
his friends, business partners.
For examples, he allocated 12
plots of land to his son,
Shamsudeen, and 37 commercial plots of land to his business
front called Tariq Hammoud. “Some of those quizzed so far
confessed that Bala used
unconventional methods in
raking illicit funds and laundering
same. Each time the ex-minister
allocated a plot of land, he would find out the market value
and ask you to pay half of the
amount to him in cash. “For instance if a plot of land
was N2 billion, Bala would ask
for N1 billion cash from the
prospective buyer. He was
smart in collecting cash. “But the EFCC has traced
allocation of 37 commercial plots
to Hammoud and how N8billion
was made from it. In fact, we
saw a proposal by Tariq
Hammoud to sell some of the plots. “So far, our operatives have
arrested, detained and quizzed
Shamsudeen. He is presently on
administrative bail. We have also
interrogated Hammoud.” The source further said: “Based
on substantial findings, we
approached the court to obtain
an interim forfeiture order to
seize a N650million from the ex-
FCT minister. READ ALSO: “Ayo is my son, he can’t be prosecuted” – Bode
George “What happened was that the
former minister allocated some
plots of land to Aso Savings and
they bought the N650 million
house for him at Nos. 1 and 3,
Mariam Mukhtar Street, Asokoro District. One of Bala Mohammed's
children in one of his private
cars One of Bala Mohammed’s
children in one of his private
cars “The EFCC has confiscated
three duplexes totalling
N222million which were acquired
by the ex-minister’s son. “We invoked sections 28 and 34
of the EFCC (Establishment Act)
2004 and Section 13(1) of the
Federal High Court Act, 2004
which empower the anti-graft
agency to invoke interim assets forfeiture clause. “Section 28 of the EFCC Act
reads: ‘Where a person is
arrested for an offence under
this Act, the Commission shall
immediately trace and attach all
the assets and properties of the person acquired as a result
of such economic or financial
crime and shall thereafter cause
to be obtained an interim
attachment order from the
Court’. “We are investigating him, we
are yet to invite him for
questioning. Certainly, we are
closing in on him. “As for Ms Jamila Tangaza, we
arrested and detained her
because she was connected
with the land scam and abuse
of office. READ ALSO: Jibrin arrives EFCC HQ “The ex-minister asked her to
resign her appointment with
BBC and appointed her as a
senior special assistant on media
and information. But Bala
allocated some plots of land to her to sell in order to acquire a
mansion in Asokoro District too.
Her house was allegedly worth
N158million. “Also, Jamila allegedly abused
her office by awarding N800
million contracts to her company
which is called Songbird
Multimedia. “Her case was interesting.
When she registered the
company with the Corporate
Affairs Commission, she used a
fictitious name as the CEO of
the company but she is the sole signatory to the company’s
account and her phone number
is the point of contact with the
firm. “We have sent her signature
on CAC document and other
specimen signatures collected
from her to a forensic
laboratory. Following a court
order, we detained her in the past few days but as at Friday,
she was pleading that we
should grant her bail. We are
looking into her request. “You can verify from her what
transpired. From custody in
EFCC, we went with her to her
office to recover some
documents. We used the EFCC
bus but along the way, she begged us to park the bus
away from the vicinity of AGIS
where she is a director. “She did not want her staff
and others to notice that she
was brought to the office by
EFCC team. “We obliged her request by
parking outside AGIS. We also
didn’t allow policemen in
uniform to follow her to the
office. “We assigned plain-clothe
operatives and even asked her
if she wanted the only lady in
our team to follow her so that
Jamila can blend with the crowd
in AGIS without anyone suspecting anything. READ ALSO: Why I stand with Buratai – Calito Felipe “She said all plain clothe
operatives can follow her. We
did not put her in handcuffs.
This is the extent we went
based on her request to
protect her reputation and integrity. The story of Jamila
being handcuffed was rubbish.” Recall that many of Jonathan’s
former cabinet members as well
as close aides have either been
arrested or being investigated
for various offences of fraud
against the country. One of such celebrated case is
the $2.1 billion allegedly traced
to Sambo Dasuki, former
national security adviser to the
former president. Bala Mohammed was appointed
minister of FCT on April 8, 2010,
when Goodluck Jonathan, acting
while Umaru Yar’Adua was ill,
announced his new cabinet. http://davesblog.over-blog.com/2016/08/former-minister-son-lose-4-houses-to-efcc.html

will be back to comment

Should we continue to place importance on achievements abroad?

http://weekend.peoplesdailyng.com/index.php/lifestyle/womanhood/701-hajiya-jamilah-tangaza-a-peep-into-the-world-of-abuja-s-landlady

A peep into the background of the first female Director
of the Abuja Geographical Information Systems, AGIS, reveals that she is a woman of many brilliant colours. A fellow of the prestigious Oxford University and member of the Chartered Management Institute in the United Kingdom, Hajia Jamilah Tangaza is well prepared for the position she occupies at the moment.

The principled core Information and Communication Technology, ICT expert is also credited with more than 20 years’ experience in Journalism and Information Management Systems. The better part of these positions she has held in management positions. The Kano-born whiz kid comes from a family that placed premium on education. [/b]She started her work-life as an academic in Bayero University Kano, her alma mater. But later, she delved into the challenging world of journalism when she joined the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in London in 1992.

On Wednesday March 27, 2013, the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed in a bid to reposition the administration, embarked on redeployment of some key staff. [b]The minister explained that the deployment was meant to ensure improved service delivery to the residents of the Territory. Among those affected by the deployment was Hajia Jamilah Tangaza. Until her appointment as head of the Abuja Geographic Information Systems, AGIS, she served in the office of the minister as Senior Special Assistant on Information Management Systems.

While serving in this capacity, she brought in her wealth of experience to that position. But to many who know her well, it didn’t come as a surprise at all. To some Nigerians who know little or nothing about her, she is one young woman who is just so lucky. She was not only well qualified and equipped for the job; she also executed her beat with professionalism and competence. But Hajia Tangaza has paid her dues when it comes to effective management of personnel and resources. She has such a rich and intimidating curriculum vitae that is capable of making the biggest achiever go green with envy. ..............