| ACF HQ still sealed off | No financial infractions at BoT level, says Dalhatu
The apex northern socio-cultural organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has said it has suspended, with immediate effect, the chairman of its Board of Trustees, Alhaji Bashir M. Dalhatu, over alleged financial misconduct and constitutional breaches.
The sealed ACF national headquarters remained firmly under police control.
Police operatives had on Tuesday sealed the ACF national headquarters located at Sokoto Road, Kaduna.
However, the Kaduna State Police Command denied the report, insisting that its officers were deployed to the ACF premises to prevent a possible breakdown of law and order between two rival factions within the organisation.
Meanwhile, the ACF said the decision suspending the Board of Trustees chairman was reached at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the forum, presided over by its chairman, Mike Osuman (SAN), with members drawn from 18 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
But when LEADERSHIP enquired to know the venue of the NEC meeting, ACF national publicity secretary, Prof. Tukur Mohammed Baba, did not disclose it.
He said, “We got a venue outside our sealed national secretariat in Kaduna and paid for it. We held our meeting successfully there. We do not want to put the owner of the venue in a problem, which is the reason we did not disclose it,” he said.
Announcing Dalhatu’s suspension, ACF spokesperson Mohammed Baba, alongside the chairman of the Ethics and Conduct Committee, Prof. Mohammed Jamo, said the decision was based on allegations of financial misappropriation.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting held at an undisclosed venue in Kaduna, Muhammad-Baba said delegates from about 18 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory successfully convened the meeting after relocating from the ACF’s sealed headquarters to another venue in Kaduna.
He said the NEC condemned what it described as the unlawful restriction of access to its headquarters, insisting that it amounted to interference with the right to freedom of association and the organisation’s internal affairs.
According to him, the NEC maintained that there was no leadership crisis within the ACF.
The ACF spokesperson also said the meeting deliberated on the report of an Ethics and Conduct Committee set up to investigate a petition on financial management and governance practices within the forum.
Muhammad-Baba said the committee’s preliminary findings raised serious concerns requiring further investigation, particularly regarding due process and financial administration.
Based on the recommendations, the NEC passed a vote of no confidence in the BoT chairman, Dalhatu, and approved his immediate suspension pending further investigation.
He further revealed that the National Executive Committee of the forum also directed an immediate forensic audit of all financial activities of the ACF, including its Endowment Fund, with instructions to recover any funds found to have been improperly managed.
According to him, the NEC also reaffirmed its confidence in the current National Working Committee led by the forum’s chairman, Mike Mamman Osuman, SAN, and maintained the position of the secretary-general pending any constitutional review process.
The NEC also condemned the alleged police sealing-off of its headquarters, describing it as an unacceptable interference with its operations and constitutional rights.
Chairman of the ACF Ethics and Conduct Committee, Prof. Nuhu Mohammad Jamo, on his part, corroborated the explanation that the panel acted on a petition alleging financial and administrative misconduct against the BoT chairman.
Jamo recalled that the committee invited the affected official to respond to the allegations within 48 hours, but the official did not respond.
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