Jigawa Govt Takes Action Against Contractors Accused of School Feeding Scam

Contractors participating in the state school food program have been suspended by the Jigawa State Government. This comes after accusations of fraud and subpar service.

This was revealed on Wednesday when Hon. Auwal D. Sankara, the state Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Special Duties, inspected a few schools in the Dutse local government.

According to him, the government’s efforts to guarantee accountability and safeguard the welfare of pupils included the inspection.

“The monitoring team found irregularities, including incomplete food deliveries to boarding schools, supply of substandard food items, and inflated student population figures,” he said.

Inspectors discovered a significant disparity between official records and the actual student population at the Girls Model Boarding School in Kudai. A physical head count revealed just 681 pupils, despite school records indicating a population of 1,008.

The contractor, Jibrin Maifata, was immediately suspended after the commissioner observed that the meal was unsafe for students to eat.

A shipment of rice that was sent to the Government Commercial Secondary School in Dutse was turned down because it did not adhere to the necessary criteria. Because of the event, the Commissioner later fired Alhaji Sule Zai, the Chairman of the School Feeding Contractors.

At the School for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Dutse, three contractors—Kamalu Sulaiman, Alhaji Abdullahi Abanderi, and Alhaji Umaru Chamo—were suspended for providing students with inadequate food supplies.

According to Hon. Sankara, the actions were consistent with the administration’s commitment to accountability and openness in public programs as well as Governor Umar A. Namadi’s 12-Point Agenda.

He threatened to prosecute anyone caught misusing funds intended for the welfare and nutrition of students.

He stated that in order to guarantee value for public dollars and adherence to criteria in all social intervention programs, inspections would continue throughout the state.