Zamfara State Governor Yari Diverts N500m Paris Club Refund To Repay His Loan

According to the source, Mr. Yari withdrew N500m from the N19 billion

Paris Club refund allegedly diverted to a special account of the

Nigeria Governors Forum from the N522b allocated to the 36 states and

deposited the sum into a mortgage bank account.



Governor Abdul'aziz Abubakar Yari of Zamfara State and Chairman of the

Nigerian Governors Forum diverted N500million from the recent Paris

Club refund to pay off his loan, an Economic and Financial Crimes

Commission (EFCC) source revealed to SaharaReporters on Tuesday.



According to the source, Mr. Yari withdrew N500m from the N19 billion

Paris Club refund allegedly diverted to a special account of the

Nigeria Governors Forum from the N522b allocated to the 36 states and

deposited the sum into a mortgage bank account.



Nigeria's anti-graft agency, EFCC, also told The Nation, "Of the N19

billion, we discovered that a consultant brought by the North-West

governor was paid N2.2billion. From the N2.2 billion, the governor got

N500 million."



Mr. Yari then transferred the sum to the mortgage bank from which he

had borrowed N800m to purchase to properties in 2013. According to the

source, the governor was able to renegotiate his debt from N800m to

N500m.



The EFCC, however, traced the sum, knowing it was connected to Mr.

Yari and the Paris Club loan. The mortgage bank then forfeited the

N500m to the EFCC.



News of the Zamfara State governor's embezzlement comes just one day

after Sahara Reporters revealed that Senate President Bukola Saraki

was being investigated by the EFCC for his role in the embezzlement of

N3.5b from the Paris Club loan through the slush fund placed at the

Access Bank by the Nigeria Governors Forum, who claimed it was meant

for consultants.