NBTE Executive Secretary Under Fire Over Multimillion Naira Fraud Allegation

NBTE Executive Secretary under fire over multimillion naira fraud allegation

By Mustapha Usman  ICIR

IN May 2024, the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Idris Bugaje, a professor, was grilled by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), over allegations of unauthorised withdrawal of about N170 million from the Board’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) into personal accounts.This followed a petition sent to the commission by a whistleblower alleging the creation of an illegal kickback fund, corruption and nepotism, among other accusations, against Bugaje.

Suspecting that the petition that led to the ICPC investigation was written by one of his staffers, Bugaje has allegedly subjected perceived whistleblowers to retributory actions, including demotions and isolation from work, with sources at the Board accusing him of altering seniority profiles to sideline perceived opponents and unjustly placing staff under suspension.

Sources privy to the matter also alleged the that ES established a parallel management structure, the NBTE EXCO, to override decision-making processes and isolate dissenting voices,  while also being accused of flouting public service regulations and obstructing accountability measures.

Bugaje had in 2021, shortly after he was appointed as the Board Secretary, created the NBTE Consult account, which, according to him, was to generate more revenue for the parastatal. But the Consult accounts, according to sources, have been used for personal gains.

Since the creation of the NBTE consult, two directors have headed the unit in the past but in 2024, Bugaje was said to have removed one Bilkisu Daku, and appointed his in-law, Sani Nuhu KofarMata, as the managing director.

KofarMata hadn’t worked with the Board until his appointment by Bugaje in 2024.

N170 million paid into personal account
The ICIR was unable to get the petition to the ICPC detailing the allegations against Bugaje, but other documents obtained and reviewed revealed that over N170 million was withdrawn from the Board’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) domiciled with the Central Bank of the Nigeria (CBN) in January 2024, and funneled through private accounts before being transferred to the Board’s Consult account.

The Board’s TSA outflow report indicted nine staff members for receiving the money into their accounts, as the money was routed through their personal accounts, with each individual receiving varying sums, ranging from N10 million to N30 million in January 2024.

Among them, Musa Danjani Hadeija, received N30 million, Kassim Ahmed received N20 million, Hamsatu Suleiman received N10million, Muhammed Abdullahi received N15 million, Garba Umar Abdullahi received N20 million, and Hajara M. Kabir received another N20 million.

Document showing the outflow of money from the NBTE TSA to Musa Hadeija and Muhammad Abdullahi
Other substantial recipients are Sambo Ya Aribe with N15 million, Gift O. Gabriel with another N20 million, and Sambo Mohammed with N20 million.

Document showing the outflow of money from the NBTE TSA to Hajara Kabir
These individuals are all staff of the Finance and Accounts Department.

The funds withdrawn from the TSA account were designated for various payments, including advance payment in Respect of (IRO) Accreditation Visit to Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwa Shi-Uku, IRO QAA Training TETFund North west Region and Southwest Region, among others.

These transactions contravene Section 713 of Nigeria’s Public Sector Financial Regulation Act, which explicitly prohibits paying public money into private accounts. The Act stipulates that any officer who engages in such acts is presumed to have fraudulent intent.

Section 713 of the Act (under Chapter Seven) states: “Personal money shall in no circumstances be paid into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private bank account.

It also added that, “An officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention.”

Furthermore, like other government agencies, guidelines from the Federal Ministry of Education mandate that all NBTE transactions must be conducted solely through the TSA, a directive that Bugaje ignored even after being warned by the ministry.

To allow him use non – NBTE TSA account to transact the agency’s business, Bugaje had written to the Ministry of Education to allow the Board to use the NBTE Consult account to receive accreditation funds from educational institutions it oversights, citing the mopping of the unused funds by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

In its reply to the request,  the ministry in its letter dated February 23, 2024 and signed by the Permanent Secretary,  Didi Esther Walson, emphasised that the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) is a fully funded agency under its jurisdiction and, therefore, should not channel funds through a commercial bank.

Ministry of Education response to Bugaje’s claims
Contrary to Bugaje’s claim that the move was aimed at preventing the mopping up of funds, the ministry recommended in its response that the Board established an e-collection TSA account. This account, the ministry stressed, should be used for receiving and disbursing funds related to services rendered or by the NBTE.

One of the payment receipts of money paid into Consult account
Bugaje defied the ministry’s directive and still went ahead to instruct the institutions to make payment into the NBTE Consult account, which he controls and to which the federal government has no direct access.Justifying his action, in a copy of the response to a petition by one Lawal Hafiz, a Director at the Board, dated October 3, 2024, and sent to the Education Ministry, Bugaje stated, “With the introduction of Digital Accreditation to replace physical mode early this year, in order to remove human interface and minimise corrupt practices, all outstanding visits some paid since 2022 (but funds mopped) had to be cleared. This led to the payment of cash advances to many staff to facilitate air tickets, honoraria, etc. of resource persons. This had been the practice in the past. This was what made some disgruntled staff to write a petition to ICPC and hence the invitation of some staff. The physical accreditations had been concluded successfully since.”In a letter dated, September 11, 2024, the petitioner, had sought for the ministry’s intervention against what he described as ‘witch-hunting and victimisation’ on his person by Bugaje for his perceived involvement in exposing alleged wrongdoings in the Board, including the payment into individual accounts, alleged sale of luxury cars and buses under  a swap arrangement, and operating an illegal kickback fund named Baytil Maal with the wife allegedly running the kitchen where he said meals are charged at almost 50 per cent for normal food vendors and illegal employment of individuals.Beyond that, findings by The ICIR also showed that Bugaje directed institutions seeking accreditation to pay directly into the NBTE consult created by him.Multimillion naira paid to NBTE account
Despite clear directives from the Federal Ministry of Education, in March 2024, Bugaje authorised the payment of public funds into the NBTE Consult account. Documents obtained by The ICIR, including receipts of payments from institutions, detailed how over N5 million was paid to the Consult account.

One of the receipts of money paid to into Consult account
One such instance came from a letter titled “Re: Application to Mount a New Programme/Payment Proof,” sent to the Board in April by Distinct Polytechnic, Ekosin, Osun State.

The letter showed how the institution paid the sum of N921,942.50 into the NBTE Consult account to cover the inspection visit for the ND Mass Communication programme at the National Diploma level, an inspection personally approved by the Executive Secretary.

The letter further confirmed that the payment, made in full accordance with the NBTE’s instructions, was deposited into an account labeled “NBTE Technical Services,” held at Zenith Bank, with the payment receipt duly attached.

Another receipt of money paid to into Consult account by Federal Polytechnic Offa.
Similarly, the Federal Polytechnic Offa transferred N3,984,836.85 into the same NBTE Technical Services account as part of the accreditation and resource inspection fee for several of its departments.  The payment was made in April 2024.

This was a similar situation in the payment process of Prime Polytechnic Ltd is as it paid over N200,000 to the NBTE Technical Services account for a similar purpose.

Following footsteps of other MDAs
Recall that the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Beta Edu, was suspended in January 2024 by President Bola Tinubu after public outrage erupted over revelations that she authorised the transfer of N585.2 million of  public funds into a private account.

In a leaked letter, Edu instructed the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to pay N585 million into a private account managed by United Bank of Africa (UBA) and owned by Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola.

While Edu, through her media aide, Rasheed Zubair, admitted the payment, she dismissed accusations of wrongdoing and labelled them as blackmail.

However, her claim contradicts Nigeria’s Public Sector Financial Regulation Act of 2009, which governs the disbursement of public funds.

This incident was not peculiar to Beta Edua as investigations by Premium Times, revealed widespread financial crime across numerous ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), with its analysis of data from Govspend, a platform monitoring government expenditures, indicated that over six years, MDAs funnelled at least N159.6 billion (N159,626,619,959) into private accounts.

In another report by the Foundation of Investigative Journalism, FIJ, more than N900 million of public funds were paid to different private accounts by the federal government, through ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

According to the report, several payments were made by various entities, including the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Productivity Centre, Office of the Accountant General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Budget Office, and the Pension Transitional Arrangement Department.

Shortchanging institutions
Regarding the situation at the NBTE, documents obtained by The ICIR also revealed a troubling pattern where some institutions were shortchanged in the accreditation process.

For instance, some institutions paid as much as N3 million for the accreditation and inspection visits. However, during the actual accreditation, the number of staff paid to carry out the inspection was drastically reduced.

Despite these significant changes, the remaining funds amounting to millions of naira were not returned to the institutions or paid into the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

Documents showed that while Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, one of the institutions seeking accreditation, paid a total of N28,354,320.00 for the accreditation of 49 programmes, the approved estimate for the inspection was revised to N23,217,300.00

The ICIR learnt that the revised amount, though lower, did not result in any refund of the excess funds that had already been paid. This remaining amount was also not returned to the institution or deposited back into the Treasury Single Account (TSA), and thus raises red flags about the proper handling of public funds.

A similar situation occurred in February 2024, when the NBTE revised estimates for 20 institutions that had already made payments totalling over N100 million for physical accreditation. The revised estimates were slashed to N50.5 million, a reduction of nearly 50 per cent.

Institutions such as Global Polytechnic, Benin, and Plateau State Polytechnic, Barkin Ladi, saw their payment significantly cut down, with no refund of the remaining funds. For instance, Global Polytechnic paid N2,411,383.81, but the revised estimate was reduced to N1,207,000.00, leaving a substantial difference unaccounted for.

This also resulted in a decrease in the amount of staff sent for accreditation.

Sources in the agency disclosed that the funds that institutions overpaid for accreditation have disappeared into non-existent projects. Instead of returning the excess funds or utilising them for the intended purpose, these amounts were reallocated to projects that failed to materialise or were allegedly embezzled after being transferred to the NBTE consult account.

ICPC silent despite petition
Despite the allegations of  widespread corruption and the petition it looked into at the NBTE, the  ICPC has been silent about the outcome of its investigation about six months after receiving formal petitions regarding these allegations.

The lack of progress in the ICPC investigation has also put many workers at the NBTE, who were suspected as the authors of the petition against Bugaje at his mercy, as he has continued to make them redundant.

Although The ICIR could not obtain a copy of the petition, it was gathered that in May 2024, the ICPC began investigating allegations of illegal withdrawals amounting to N200 million from the National Board for Technical Education’s (NBTE) Treasury Single Account (TSA) at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The probe also encompasses irregularities in contract awards, controversial recruitment of individuals with questionable backgrounds, and the disposal of official vehicles under a swap arrangement.

On May 22, 2024, the ICPC invited ten NBTE staff members for questioning. Among them were nine individuals who had received public funds from the TSA account into their personal accounts. According to the anti graft agency’s invitation letters, the staff members were expected to appear before it on May 27, 28, and 29, 2024.

However, while they, along with the ES and other management staff, were questioned and statements taken at the Kaduna offices of the ICPC, there have been no updates regarding the investigation. The ICIR contacted the commission’s spokesperson, Demola Bakare, on Friday, November 28, to find out the outcome of the investigation. Although he promised to provide an update a week later, he has yet to do so as of press time. The ICIR followed up with several phone calls and messages, but no updates on the investigation have been released.

This, The ICIR learnt has led to a belief in the NBTE that the ES has suppressed the investigation. One NBTE staffer alleged s/he  was sure that the ICPC boss in the state had suppressed the investigation as he has maintained a chubby relationship with Bugaje since the investigation commenced.

There is however no evidence of this. The ICPC spokesperson also dismissed the allegations of compromise, noting that the officers in charge have submitted their findings.

“Nothing can be farther from the truth, I am aware that they have officially submitted the investigation report but the details have not been revealed to me yet,” Bakare said.

Witch hunting  supposed whistleblower
Meanwhile, as the investigation into the NBTE corruption scandal stalls, insiders who spoke to our reporter in Kaduna alleged that Bugaje has engaged in what they described as witch-hunting of those presumed to have blown the whistle on him.

Since the investigation commenced following the petition to the ICPC, about six directors in the Board have allegedly been subjected to unfair treatment, including the suspension of one director from the Human Resource Department and the transfer of others to non-functional units or outside the Board Headquarters in Kaduna.

For instance, Ngbede Ogeh, who served as the Director of Polytechnic Programmes, was reassigned as Director of Physical Planning, with his previous approval to retain the departmental headship revoked. Shuaibu Yusuf Ringim, a chemical engineer and Deputy Director in the Polytechnic Programmes Division was moved to Monotechnic Programmes, a department where his expertise is irrelevant, to make him redundant.

Lawal Adamu Bello, Deputy Director of Finance and Accounts, was also redeployed to Polytechnic Programmes with instructions to render him redundant, according to sources. Despite his rank qualifying him to lead the division, an Assistant Director heads it instead.

Bashir Jamilu, previously Deputy Director of Polytechnic Programmes, was reassigned to Academic Planning allegedly after he refused to be subservient to an Assistant Director heading his division and Yusuf Yakubu, Deputy Director of SERVICOM, was posted to the South East Zonal Office.

Similarly, Lawal Y. Hafiz, who was a Director at the Human Resources, was moved to a Student Affairs unit (one of the departments, sources said the ES created to make staff redundant), and was later suspended.

Meanwhile, the department was scrapped after the suspension of Hafiz.

Abba Danmowa, formerly the Director of Physical Planning, was transferred to the North East Zonal Office.

These actions seem to be an attempt to frustrate any opposition and deflect attention from the ongoing investigation into his actions, members of staff said.

One insider while speaking with The ICIR said that the directors’ reassignment to a “non-existent department” was a retaliatory move stemming from the leadership’s belief that they were involved in the petition.

Meanwhile, during the course of this investigation, The ICIR learnt that the Board lifted the suspension of Hafiz Lawal and transferred him to another state, while also meting out the same fate to other perceived whistleblowers in the Board.

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When The ICIR reached out to Bugaje to seek his reactions to its findings and allegations against him, he defended his actions by sharing a copy of his response to a petition to the Education Ministry, framing them as part of broader institutional reforms.

The ICIR had earlier reported that the petitioner in his September 11, petition, called the attention of the Education Ministry on alleged victimisation and harassment of staff members while also detailing the allegations embroiled in by the Executive Secretary.

The petition alleges the creation of an NBTE Exco to replace the Management Committee, comprising a handful of loyal directors, to silence dissenting voices on the Board, of which Bugaje stated that the NBTE Act 1977 (as amended) does not recognise a ‘Management’ or any principal officer other than the Executive Secretary.

According to Bugaje, the allegations of retaliation are exaggerated and stem from resistance to necessary changes aimed at enhancing efficiency.

“Let me inform the HME that I had swapped Directors since I came into office to achieve efficiency and root out corrupt practices, which were endemic in the NBTE. So far 75 per cent of Directors in the NBTE have served in more than one Department.

“The NBTE Act 1977 as amended does not recognise ‘Management’ nor any Principal Officer other than the Executive Secretary. Indeed we had a management committee in the past, but I borrowed the practice in Kadpoly, where I was Rector, and established an Executive Committee’ made up of all key Directors. These structural issues are being addressed in the new Polytechnic Commission Act in the National assembly,” part of the letter wrote.