A bench warrant has been issued by a Federal High Court, sitting in Jos, Plateau State, for the arrest of a former Governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje, for refusing to show up in court. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) disclosed this in a Facebook post that, “A Federal High Court, sitting in Jos, Plateau State, on October 4, 2016 (Tuesday) issued a bench warrant against former Governor of Gombe State, Danjuma Goje, for refusing to show up in court. The warrant is however to take effect by 8am on October 5, 2016, if he fails to show up in court again.”
Among several charges,Danjuma Goje, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, is accused of illegally awarding a N1bn contract for the supply of dictionaries to secondary schools while he was governor of Gombe state. At the last sitting, a prosecution witness, Salisu Abaji, said Goje awarded a contract for the supply of dictionaries for over N1billion to Gombe State Universal Basic Education Board without following procurement process. He was also alleged to have paid 85 per cent of the contract sum upfront to the supplier, Real and Integrated Hospitality Company, as against the prescribed 15 per cent as contained in the UBEB guidelines when he was the governor.