By Mustapha Usman, Kano
A former commissioner of Health in Kano State, Abubakar Labaran, a former permanent secretary, Farouk Mohammed, and a former provost of Kano School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tijjani Umar, are currently under investigation for allegedly collecting kickbacks to the tune of $650,000.
DAILY NIGERIAN reliably gathered that the trio conspired with an Egyptian education consultant, Thamer Kazamel, to inflate the tuition fees of Kano students on scholarship in Mansoura University, Egypt in order to collect kickback of $650,000.
The suspects allegedly defrauded the state by operating a company, Medical Overseas Limited, through which they struck the deal with the Egyptian co-conspirator’s company, Delta Med Group.
In 2014, Egyptian authorities arrested their agent and confiscated the sum of $200,000 – the last tranche of the kickback – at the Cairo airport, while trying to board a Nigeria-bound flight.
“$450,000 has been successfully laundered in cash from Egypt to Nigeria, while the last part of the payment, which is $200,000 was confiscated by the Egyptian authorities,” a source at the Kano State Public Complaints and Anticorruption Commission told DAILY NIGERIAN.
“The former provost of the nursing school is cooperating with us and has confessed to receiving $94,000.”
Sources at the anti-corruption agency said the agency had invited the former commissioner and other officials for questioning and would be prosecuted at the conclusion of investigation.
Their offense is contrary to Section 22 and 23 of the Kano Public Complaints and Anticorruption Law.
DAILY NIGERIAN learnt that efforts were being made to liaise with the EFCC to repatriate the confiscated $200,000 to the state government.
