- Safiu Kehinde
A Socio-political Pressure group, Tracka Nigeria, has called on the Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate Katsina state governor, Dikko Radda, and lawmaker, Usman Banye, over alleged presentation of Federal Government’s funded fertilizers as Donations.
Tracka, a subsidiary of BudgIT, made this call in a post on its official X handle earlier today.
As contained in the post, Dikko and Banye had allegedly branded and distributed 3500 bags of public-funded fertilizer to party loyalists as donation.
The group said the donated fertilizer was part of the N100 million budgeted by the Federal Government for the supply of fertilizer to farmers to enhance agricultural production in Batagarawa/Charanchi/Rimi Federal Constituency of Katsina state.
They charged National Animal Product Research Institute, Zaria, to provide details of the project to the public while calling on the ICPC and EFCC to investigate the case.
The post read; “Dear @dikko_radda, Hon. Usman Murtala Banye, it is a crime to deceive Nigerians that public-funded projects are donations!!!!
“N100m was allocated to the Supply of Fertilizer to Farmers to Enhance Agricultural Production in Batagarawa/Charanchi/Rimi Federal Constituency of Katsina State in the 2024 FG Budget.
“However, you distributed the 3,500 bags of fertilizer to party loyalists and your friends. The fertilizers were branded with Hon. Usman Murtala Banye and @dikko_radda’s pictures to mislead the public into thinking this project was a donation.
“We call on NATIONAL ANIMAL PRODUCT RESEARCH INSTITUTE- ZARIA, the implementing agency, to provide the public with the details of this project.
“We ask that @icpcnigeria and @efccnigeria investigate this project for mismanagement of public funds.”