Pulse.ng : PETITION AGAINST THE ACTING MANAGING DIRECTOR, BANK OF AGRICULTURE, MR ALWAN HASSAN

The Honourable Minister,

Federal Ministry of Agric.,

Abuja.

Dear Sir,

SAVE OUR SOULS

We hereby wish to petition against the Acting Managing Director of Bank of Agriculture, Mr Alwan Ali Alasan over his ineptitude, financial misdemeanour and high-handedness.

Sir, since his assumption as acting MD on July 2020, he has turned the Bank into a sort of his private enterprise, running it wuth reckless impunity unprecedented in the Bank’s history.

Firstly, the MD has purchased sleet of three official vehicles worth over 250 million naira, for himself and his appointed personal assistant (PA) one Yusuf Tafida, but has intentionally refused and ignored to buy for other top management staff who are entitled to such vehicles. These vehicles, and other ancillary ones, it is confirmed that, he gives out to his girlfriends from time to time for their personal trips outside Kaduna.

Secondly, the MD has been engaged in many shoddy financial dealings that undermines the Bank’s vision and mission, up to the point of non-payment of monthly salaries and allowances for months. At the time of writing this letter, sir, the entire staff of the Bank have not been paid salaries for two months – September and December.

Thirdly, the MD is confirmed to have been withdrawing hundreds of thousands of naira in the name of Duty Travel Allowances (DTA) whenever he goes to either domestic or foreign travels, more especially to his Abuja and Kano residence where he lives with his family. In the same manner, he boldly refuses to hand over the affairs of the Bank to most senior management staff whenever he travels, but to his personal assistant (PA), which is against the rules.

Sir, in 2022 the Federal government has given the sum of 10 billion naira to the Bank, but the MD has not utilise the money according to the Bank’s budget at all, hence the need for the Ministry to constitute a Committee to investigate how he appropiated such huge amount.

On the issue of agric loans, nobody in the Bank, including the senior management officials could tell how the 10 billion is spent. He runs a one-man show.

We believed that BOA is saddled with providing agricultural credit facilities to support all agricultural value chain activities, as well as capacity development through the promotion of co-operatives and agricultural systems enhancement, but sadly the Acting MD’s conduct defeats all this.

The MD, having turned BOA his personal estate, violates recruitment procedure in staff employments. He just sent people to branches and instruct Managers to employ whoever he wants, without interview, examination or any form of scrutiny whatsoever.

Sir, the most disturbing aspect about the Acting MD Alwan Hassan was his financial reckless and personal spendings What the staff and stakeholders in the sector did not come to terms with was his payment of 100 million naira as ransom when he was abducted by train-kidnappers along Abuja-Kaduna railway. Where did he get such crazy amount of money to secure his release? We strongly believed that, in the ligut of his financial shenanigans at BOA, the Acting MD Alwan Hassan has big questions to answer, from anti-cortuption agencies – EFCC and ICPC.

Having said that, BOA was incorporated in 1972 as Nigerian Agricultural Bank (NAB), and later in October 2010 rebranded as BOA, ought have a Board and Executive Directors, but when Acting MD was appointed in 2020 by former Agric Minister Sabo Nanono, it was not so.

Alwan Hassan ought to work directly with the bank’s Board and Executive Directors to implement the transformation reformsin the Bank, but this has not been possible since to date. And to our minds, that has been responsible for his high-handedness and reckless impunity.

With all sense of patriotism, we call on the mother Ministry for Agric to as a matter of urgent rescue and national interest suspend the Acting MD and constitute a Committee to investigate his conducts, so that the Bank of Agriculture being nation’s apex agricultural and rural development finance institution with responsibility of providing agricultural credit facilities in support of agricultural value chain activities, will continue to exist.

Yours faithfully,

Mahmud Badamasi

Chairman,

Friends of BOA

Cc;

Office of the Vice President;

Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation;

Minister for Finance;

CBN Governor;

Senate Committee Chairman on Agric.;

House Committee Chairman on Agric.;

Director, DSS;

EFFC Chairman;

ICPC Chairman,

Members of the press – BBC, VOA, VON, DW Radio, Radio France International, TRT Hausa Radio, Daily Trust, Leadership, Blueprint, The Nation, Punch Newspapers, Nigerian Tribune, Daily Champion, etcThe Honourable Minister,

Federal Ministry of Agric.,

Abuja.