(EFCC) has detained Bashir Bello Ibrahim, a past contractor for the Kaduna State

The Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained Bashir Bello Ibrahim, a past contractor for the Kaduna State government and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Formal Act Legacy Limited, on suspicions of committing multiple frauds amounting to N30 billion.

Although his government contract had been terminated, the EFCC has received over 251 complaints against Ibrahim, alleging that he misled unsuspecting individuals by posing as a consultant for all 23 local government areas in Kaduna State and for the United Charity Foundation (UCF) and FICCORD, which are affiliated with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Office. Investigations suggest that he falsely claimed to have a 2020 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kaduna State government that allowed him to source intervention grants from global donor agencies for local government projects and SDG initiatives. Further inquiries revealed that Ibrahim was not a consultant for UCF, and his MoU with the Kaduna State government had been terminated in October 2023 due to his failure to adhere to its terms. Despite the MoU's termination, Ibrahim allegedly engaged in unauthorized issuance of fictitious contracts worth approximately N30 billion, persuading contractors to provide supplies for projects including hospital construction, motorized boreholes, hospital beds, mattresses, drugs, and vaccines, which he claimed would be delivered to the Kaduna State government. Instead, he sold some of the items and diverted the proceeds for personal use.

The investigation also uncovered that upon receiving the supplies, he kept them in storage without informing the local government areas (LGAs) and failed to compensate the contractors for their deliveries. He reportedly sold contract award documents through intermediaries and shared the profits. These fraudulent actions, along with his alteration of contract terms, contributed to the MoU's termination in 2023. Authorities have recovered various items from Ibrahim, including Toyota Hilux pickup trucks, ambulances, buses, dispatch motorcycles, large quantities of children's medications and vaccines, hospital beds, and heavy-duty generators. His storage facility also contained an extensive range of medical supplies, such as tablets, capsules, syrups, ointments, gloves, syringes, and mucus extractors. The EFCC is working in partnership with NAFDAC and the Kaduna State Ministry of Health to assess the medicines discovered in his possession and to conduct thorough quality analyses. After inspections, Umar Ahmad Suleiman, Investigation and Enforcement Officer from the Federal Tax Force at NAFDAC, reported that while some medicines were from registered manufacturers and still within their shelf life, others had expired, and some were counterfeit with unregistered manufacturers. Supporting this finding, Abubakar Isa Balarabe, a pharmacist and Team Leader for the Kaduna State Ministry of Health, noted that several medicines had expired and criticized the inadequate storage conditions, stating, "The storage is not suitable for any medicine due to the way it was managed." The suspect is expected to be charged in court following the conclusion of the investigation.