The Novomed Procurement Scandal: A Case of Institutional Bypass
By Mohammed Babagana Abubakar
In every functional democracy, the law acts as a fence around the public treasury. When those in power decide to jump that fence rather than walk through the gate of due process, the entire structure of governance begins to crumble. The latest allegation emerging from the Kano State House of Assembly that Deputy Governor Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo facilitated the illegal release of N440 million to Novomed Pharmaceuticals Limited is a classic example of what happens when institutional safeguards are bypassed.
According to the impeachment notice, the sum of N10 million was allegedly moved from each of the 44 local government councils to a single private entity. This was not a series of small, independent transactions; it was a coordinated, state-wide extraction of funds.
Under the Kano State Procurement and Fiscal Management Law, contracts of this magnitude require competitive bidding, public advertisement, and a “Certificate of No Objection” from the Bureau of Public Procurement. By allegedly directing these payments without such oversight, the Deputy Governor did more than just sign a cheque he effectively dismantled the state’s financial watchdog system.
Public procurement laws exist for three reasons: Transparency, Competition, and Value for Money. When a contract is awarded exclusively to one firm, like Novomed, without a fair contest:
The public has no way of knowing if the prices charged for the pharmaceuticals were fair or inflated.
Local Kano-based businesses and other pharmaceutical firms were denied the opportunity to serve their state.
Without bidding, there is no guarantee that the 44 local governments received the best possible supplies for the N440 million spent.
The House of Assembly’s accusation of “abuse of office” carries heavy weight here. As the supervisor of the Ministry for Local Government, the Deputy Governor’s primary duty was to protect the councils from exploitation. Instead, the allegations suggest he used that very authority to facilitate a financial bypass.
If N10 million can be moved from a local government’s account with the stroke of a pen, bypassing the very laws meant to prevent such actions, then no public fund in Kano is truly safe.
This is not a mere “clerical error” or an “administrative oversight.” It is a fundamental breach of the trust the people of Kano placed in this administration.
The impeachment proceedings must now serve as a reminder to all public officers, the procurement law is not a hurdle to be avoided it is the law of the land. Bypassing it is not “efficiency”; it is gross misconduct.
