We have read with mixed feelings the response of Mr. Luka Binniyat, the P.R.O of SOKAPU, to our investigative report on the 200M Wike donation to IDPs in Kaduna State. It is quite disheartening and disturbing that Binniyat, a journalist, too, by profession, would deliberately shelve the critical issues we raised and dwell on frivolities that were neither the focus of our report nor captured anywhere in it.
Sir Luka Binniyat, the word “investigation” is not a big deal. You underrated our common sense. You expected that for us to undertake an investigation of this magnitude, we require intelligence that is at par with yours.
This investigative work does not require a sophisticated brain like yours to quiz facts from information hoarders. Common sense like ours was what we required to ask questions, transcribe, and write the report. Your intelligence is too big for small jobs like this, sir.
The difficult things in most journalism investigations are access to materials and information, but, in our case, people were willing to speak to us because they lost confidence in SOKAPU’s handling of the Wike donation.
When we saw the petition by the Chikun and Kajuru LG branches of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) against SOKAPU, we did not require a sophisticated brain like Binniyat’s to know that our first port of call was the PDP Chairman, Hassan Hyat. After our interview with him, he issued us a document (produced by a committee set up to fashion out how to share the funds), which we now referred to it as a template to validate his arguments and back his facts.
We did not also need Binniyat’s super-rich brain to know that the document has become our guide and the most important lead to unearthing what is hidden.
We did not also need Binniyat’s type of personality for persons of interest or prime actors as contained in the template to avail themselves as sources of information. Neither did we need Binniyat’s kind of guts to go to the hinterland and troubled zones. What we required, overall, were remotely sourced.
However, the northern part of Kaduna and JNI did not use Binniyat’s kind of intelligence to follow the procedures as dictated by the PDP template, they used common sense like ours (Concerned Journalists) and disbursed the funds and created a peaceful atmosphere around their IDPs, and even wrote and presented reports on the exercise to the PDP.
SOKAPU is too intelligent and probably used Binniyat’s kind of intelligence to go against the template and derived its formula, and lost the calm atmosphere around our IDPs.
Look at how Binniyat botched: he is SOKAPU’s P.R.O and a parody spokesman of the Labour Party, LP. Imagine how he has turned SOKAPU into an appendage appellation of LP. It is very evident that SOKAPU and LP are siamese in the polity. It was openly displayed in his response to our report.
But sir, our common sense tells us that you glossed over or circumvented the central issues in our report:
1. Why did SOKAPU decline to use the template given to it?
2. The template did not give SOKAPU the power to make an alternative decision in case of a paucity of funds. The decision to buy relief materials is contrary to the template given to SOKAPU or the demands made by the IDPs themselves.
3. SOKAPU should have reverted to Hassan Hyat or the committee for any option in case of any uncertainty.
4. Why did SOKAPU sideline Community Development Associations, LG Chairmen, CAN, and other actors as designated in the template and took unilateral action?
5. The template is not flexible. It is very rigid and explicit on sharing funds to affected LGAs and not purchasing and sharing relief materials.
6. SOKAPU did not make mention the reasons why Asake did not return to Hyat after putting several calls to him to find out why SOKAPU did not disburse the funds to the IDPs immediately
7. Your rejoinder did not explain why the continuous hoarding of the depleted funds up to this day.
8. In your rejoinder, you did not state why Asake did not hand over the documents of purchase of the relief materials that were distributed to the Dio Maisamari leadership.
9. You also did not fault any of the accounts of the IDP Coordinators, which provided the basis for our conclusion that what you distributed to the IDPs is nothing near commensurate to the about 60 million Mr. Asake claimed to have spent on the purchase of the relief materials.
10. You did not also refute the claim that Mr. Dio Maisamari was suspended and later recalled or informed the reader why SOKAPU decided to keep money meant for meeting the emergency needs of IDPs for almost a year now? Isn’t it clear that why Asake has been indicted or CAN “arm-twisted,” (as you claim) Mr. Dio Maisamari to get 18 million or Mr. Dio himself suspended allegedly over the mismanagement of the same funds is the failure of Asake, ab initio to disburse the funds as stipulated in the template given to him or involve relevant stakeholders in the disbursement of the funds?
It is instructive to also let you know that the idea to investigate SOKAPU’s handling of the Wike funds was conceived while Asake was still president of the Union, and kick-started before he even publicly declare interest to run for the governorship of the state under the LP. Mr. Maisamari, the current president of SOKAPU can confirm that we interviewed him on this matter over five (5) months ago and told him we were on an investigative work. We did so after Mr. Asake declined speaking with us, and directed we meet Dio, whom he handed over every detail we will want from him.
On our part, it is for the people, the IDPs, and posterity to judge. We couldn’t have missed the opportunity to unearth the facts about misappropriation of funds meant for the most vulnerable among us for the fear being misconstrued as “working for politicians or political parties.” This report will outlive the 2023 elections, and its findings would remain a pathway to the discovery of more truths about how SOKAPU under Asake handled the Wike funds.
