The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission has uncovered no fewer than 35 bank accounts allegedly linked to a former Commissioner for Higher Education, Dr. Yusuf Ibrahim Kofar Mata, in an ongoing investigation into suspected fraud in the state’s foreign scholarship programme.
PLATFORM TIMES gathered that the discovery emerged during the commission’s probe into the management of billions of naira earmarked for overseas postgraduate scholarships for Kano indigenes.
The state government had in September 2024 approved about N4.6bn for 1,001 postgraduate students to pursue studies in foreign universities.
The beneficiaries were expected to study in institutions across India, Kenya and Uganda under the Kano State foreign scholarship scheme.
However, investigations by the anti-corruption agency revealed that only 418 students were eventually sent abroad despite the release of a substantial portion of the funds for the programme.
Sources familiar with the probe disclosed that the development triggered deeper scrutiny of the financial transactions associated with the scheme.
The investigation reportedly led to the discovery of 35 bank accounts allegedly operated by the former commissioner.
Findings also indicated that Kofar Mata was the sole signatory to a corporate account belonging to Crescent Coast Consult and Investment Ltd, a company incorporated in April 2019 with a registered address at Kofar Mata Quarters in Kano Municipal Local Government Area.
The firm was said to have handled visa processing and the purchase of air tickets for beneficiaries of the state’s foreign scholarship programme.
According to a source close to the investigation, the company made payments worth millions of naira for visa processing and airline tickets, raising concerns about possible conflict of interest.
The source said the arrangement suggested that the former commissioner’s private company was directly involved in transactions linked to the scholarship scheme while he was serving in office.
“This clearly raises issues of conflict of interest and potential abuse of office,” the source added.
The probe into the programme began in 2024 after Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf ordered an investigation into the disbursement of funds under the scholarship initiative.
Following the initial probe, more than N700m was reportedly refunded to the state government.
When contacted, Kofar Mata denied operating the 35 bank accounts allegedly linked to him.
He described the allegations as politically motivated, claiming that they were connected to his refusal to defect to the All Progressives Congress.
“You see, all these issues are because I refused to join the APC,” he said.
The former commissioner also denied that Crescent Coast Consult and Investment Ltd was involved in processing visas or purchasing airline tickets for the scholarship beneficiaries.
When approached for comments, the spokesman for the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, Isah Mansur Bello, confirmed that the agency had discovered multiple bank accounts allegedly linked to the former commissioner.
However, he declined to disclose further details, stating that the investigation into the scholarship scheme was still ongoing.
The commission has vowed to ensure that anyone found culpable in the alleged mismanagement of the scholarship funds will be brought to justice.
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