Former Governor of Adamawa State, Barrister Bala James Ngilari, said he will faint if he personally sees and owns N1 billion in cash or in his bank accounts.

He disclosed this while speaking exclusively to The Daily Times in an interview in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.

The ex-governor said this while responding to a question on the corruption case that made him one of the earliest high-profile victims of court rulings on sleaze since the return of democracy in the country in 1999.

Asked if he had the sum of N1billion of his own probably stashed somewhere, as some former state governors are known to, Ngilari replied: “If I see N1billion now, I will faint.”

In 2017, the Yola High Court found Ngilari guilty of four charges out of a 19-count charge case brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He was sentenced to five years in prison following the conviction for awarding a contract for the procurement of 25 vehicles at a cost of N167 million ($548,891) without following due process.

However, in July same year, an Appeal Court in Adamawa acquitted him.

But, going down memory lane while speaking to The Daily Times, the former governor said his conviction was hatched by his political enemies.

Recalling with glee how the Appeal Court set him free, he stated that it was because there was nothing to hold against him.

Dismissing insinuations that he was set free by the magnanimity of the powers-that-be, he insisted that the entire court matter against him was due to political vendetta.

Waxing philosophical, the former governor decried the tendency, among some persons in the country, to spew enmity with others who seek to live honest or righteous public lives, adding that, to the best of his ability, he tried to live above board in his public financial dealings.

He said: “In fact, the good thing is that the greatest difficulty for a person who tries to be honest and righteous is that you gather so many enemies.

”Till tomorrow, I say it boldly without fear or favour: if you take the proceedings of the courts that arraigned me on a five-count charge, there is not one count of the five that said I took N1 or diverted N1, not one.”

Ngilari revealed that he has several dormant bank accounts where there has not been even a kobo deposit for years.

Recounting some of his political battles, he said that after losing the governorship seat, he moved to run for senator in the following election circle, regretting that the aspiration failed to materialize because he could not cough up the N1million each which delegates were allegedly demanding in order to give him their vote.

His words: “In fact, I tried to contest for the Senate too under APC. I went round, toured and two, three days to the primary election, I called and reached out to the delegates through my director general and my coordinators.

“The delegates told me, ‘Look, sir, when it comes to the right person to go for this thing, you are the right person, but honestly we will be sincere and honest with you: we cannot accept N100,000 which you want to offer us.’”

According to him, the delegates informed him that other aspirants had strongly promised them N1million each and so they were not prepared to pass up such opportunity just because he is ”the right man for the office.”

He said he pleaded with them that the N100,000 could establish them or their associates.

Ngilari noted that this was happening in an era when N1million was a lot of money and had more value than today’s N1million.

Ngilari was elected to represent Michika/Madagali//Maiha federal constituency in 2003.

Based in Borno State, where he practiced law, he was relatively unknown in Adamawa politics.

Ngilari was a member of the Constitutional Conference between 1994 and 1995, and served on the popular Human Rights Violation Investigation Committee (Oputa Panel).

He was re-elected into the House of Representatives in 2007, with former Adamawa Governor Murtala Nyako selecting him as his running mate in the 2007 governorship election.

Their ticket won the election and Ngilari became the Deputy Governor.

In 2011, they were re-elected; however, Gov. Nyako ran into stormy waters with the State Assembly, leading to his impeachment in 2014.

At that time, the Speaker of the Assembly was Ahmadu Fintiri (who is the present Gov. of Adamawa).

He declared himself governor on the grounds that Ngilari had resigned to avoid being impeached with Nyako.

As the lawmakers declared his office vacant on July 15, 2014, Ngilari headed to a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to interpret the legality of his said ‘resignation’.
Obtaining favorable judgment, the High Court even ordered Fintiri to vacate the seat and that Ngilari be sworn in to complete Nyako’s tenure.

However, in 2015, he lost his seat -and the state- to the rampaging All Progressives Congress (APC).

Culled from Daily Times Nigeria