Bailout: How I Escaped Kidnap For Opposing Govt Spending – Adamawa Lawmaker

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An All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker in Adamawa State, Hon. Alhaji Abdurrahman Abubakar Isa, has alleged that suspected agents from the state government attempted to kidnap him for opposing plans by the administration to divert the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Salary Arrears Bailout Fund for other purposes.

Isa, who relocated to Abuja last week, told journalists that he narrowly escaped kidnap and possible assassination on Saturday, November 14, 2015 when government agents trailed him with a black jeep to a guest house where he took refuge.

Isa who represents Mubi South constituency in the state assembly was Chairman of the Finance, Budget and Appropriation Committee at the Adamawa State House of Assembly. He was however placed on three month suspension by the State House of Assembly for allegedly working against the executive arm.

The state parliamentarian specifically appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, to intervene in the matter and save him from kidnapped or assassinated for exposing alleged corruption practices in the government.

“I learnt from very reliable sources that the government was planning to kidnap and kill me. So, I left my house and relocated to a guest house but four men in unmarked black jeep that looked like those of the Government House still traced me in the evening to the place I was hiding. I thank God who used some people in the apartment to help me escape death,” he said.

Explaining the circumstance around his alleged kidnap, the lawmaker said the government borrowed N2.379 billion from a commercial bank without waiting for the release of the anticipated CBN fund and also initiated another move to also borrow N4.706 billion with 9% interest from the same bank.

Isa further stated that he disagreed with the demand of the governor, questioning the rationale in requesting that the House should approve the borrowing and planned diversion of the CBN Salary Arrears Bailout Fund to other capital projects.

He stressed that the governor wrote the house asking for approval of “sectoral virement” even when the 2015 Adamawa Appropriation Bill has been passed into law and no supplementary request has been made to the house.

“The only way new projects can be captured in the budget after passage of the Appropriation Law is by a supplementary appropriation bill which was never submitted by the governor and on discovering the anomaly, I drew the attention of the speaker and the members to it but my observations were sent to the governor,” he argued.

He alleged that the governor instigated the Speaker, Alhaji Kabiru Mijinyawa to dissolve the Finance, Budget and Appropriation Committee and suspend him as chairman from the House as a way of rendering the committee ineffective and incapable of opposing government use of state funds.

Isa showed documents of several official documents to journalists to buttress the argument that the government rushed to borrow money on a high interest rate of 9% rather than wait for the Federal Government to release the bail out funds it promised to states which adds to the debt burden of state.

The lawmaker noted that despite the Court order in Yola, in suit No. ADSY/62/2015, which restrained the speaker from dissolving the House Committee on Finance, Budget and Appropriation, until the determination of the plaintiff’s suit, the speaker went ahead to dissolve it.

Isa claimed that his life and that of members of his family who are still in Yola are in danger and appealed to the President and Nigerians to step into the matter.

He argued that he was only advancing the anti-corruption crusade of the present administration in Adamawa State and did not mean harm to anyone.

Source: Leadership