Youth group urges EFCC to probe Taraba senator

The face-off between Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, and the Deputy Senate Minority Leader, Emmanuel Bwacha, has festered, as different groups call for the head of the senator.

Lately, Taraba Concerned Youths Forum (TCYF) called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the petition by Southern Taraba Concerned Youths (STCY) on alleged corruption against the senator.

In a statement yesterday in Jalingo, the Chairman of TCYF, Ismaila Alex, and the Secretary, Daura Narinji, stressed the need for EFCC to attend to the petition urgently and prosecute the senator, if found wanting.

The petition was on criminal conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence and diversion of public resources for personal use as well as abandonment of projects to the tune of N7.2 billion.

EFCC, according to the group, is doing disservice not only to Tarabans but also to Nigerians as a whole.

Noting that the reason behind the establishment of the commission in 2003 by President Olusegun Obasanjo was to curb the trend of corruption and lack of accountability by those occupying positions of authority in Nigeria, it stressed the need for the commission to “work on that petition, as all needed evidence had been attached with for ease of investigations.”

TCYF alleged that the senator representing Taraba South “connived with various contractors and compromised government agents to divert money meant for expanding Suntai Dam for personal use.”

He was also accused of colluding with some government officials to come up with a fake Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to take over the management of the Federal University of Wukari Staff School to for 28 years.

Other issues the group claimed to have motivated their call for probe of Bwacha were alleged under-supply of street lighting at Federal University Wukari worth N160 million, connection of Chanchanji to the national grid through Takum at N145 million, repair and maintenance of 15km Takum– Katsina Ala road among others.

The Guardian gathered that peace eluded the senator from the day he raised a point of order at plenary sessions demanding investigation into “unlawful arrest and detention of 14 youths” from his constituency, which he alleged was spearheaded by Governor Ishaku.