Ibrahim Shema Former Governor of Katsina State, wanted by EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has declared the past Governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema wanted over N76bn fraud.
The EFCC declared Ibrahim Shema wanted following allegations leveled by Governor Aminu Masari.
In a statement signed by the spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, the agency said Shema had ignored all invitations.
“The public is hereby notified that Ibrahim Shema, a former Governor of Kastina State, is wanted by the EFCC in connection with a case of criminal conspiracy, inflation of contracts, abuse of office, diversion of funds and embezzlement, running into billions of naira.

“The former governor ignored several invitations by the commission since December 1, 2015, when he was first summoned by the agency. All efforts to locate him at his known addresses in Katsina and Abuja were futile.
“The 59-year-old ex-governor hails from the Dutsena-ma Local Government Area of Katsina State. He is tall, light in complexion and speaks Hausa and English fluently. Anybody, having useful information as to his whereabouts, should contact the commission.”
Governor Masari says he has “concrete evidence” implicating Ibrahim Shema in fraud.
According to Masari, there are some mistakes that can be forgiven, “but N70bn is a huge amount of money that we cannot overlook.”
In reaction, Shema said in a letter written by his lawyers, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) and Co, that there was an “unwarranted and unexpected campaign of calumny being waged against the ex-governor coupled with a deliberate attempt to blackmail, denigrate and vilify Shema and his aides”.
He further described as blatant lies, nauseating and malicious the claims that the “Ibrahim Shema-led administration incurred and left the state with a debt of N42bn upon the expiration of its term; that the administration incurred a foreign debt portfolio of $78m and that a sum of N13bn got missing between January and May 2015.”