From Joseph Adahnu, Yola
The Adamawa State Government, has raised alarm over an alleged fraud in the allocation of shops at the newly rebuilt Modibbo Adama Ultra Modern Market in Yola, saying a suspected fraudster collected over ₦2.3 million from traders with false promises of influencing allocations.
The State Commissioner for Commerce, Trade and Industry, Mr. Joab Salma, disclosed this recently while briefing journalists in Yola, on the irregularities that trailed the compilation of the beneficiaries’ list.
Salma said the fraudster “collected huge sums of money from unsuspecting traders by promising to influence shop allocations before disappearing.” He warned members of the public to make all payments only through official government channels.
The commissioner explained that the crisis began after the government, in fulfillment of its promise to rebuild the market following repeated fire outbreaks, asked various traders’ associations to submit names of those who lost shops.
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“The initial list submitted contained over 1,000 names, far exceeding the capacity of the reconstructed market,” Salma said.
To address the problem, the government set up a screening process. After verification, the number of genuine traders was reduced to 303. Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri later approved an additional 47 spaces, bringing the total allocation to 350 shops.
Despite the adjustment, protests have continued. Sahma blamed the unrest on manipulation of the verified list by some union officials.
“Credible complaints indicate that names of genuine traders were removed and replaced with those of individuals who never operated in the market,” he said.
Investigations uncovered further irregularities. Some listed beneficiaries admitted they had never traded in the market but were promised shops after submitting their names. Other cases involved the names of deceased persons and impersonators claiming ownership.
In response, the ministry has constituted a verification committee headed by the Permanent Secretary. The committee has begun reviewing petitions from affected traders to identify those genuinely excluded.
Sahma assured that every legitimate owner would recover their rightful shop. “Anyone unfairly excluded will be accommodated once the verification exercise is completed,” he said.
He also warned that any union leader found to have acquired more than two shops would forfeit the excess, which would be redistributed to verified victims.
The commissioner dismissed claims that traders who paid the 10 percent initial deposit were not allocated shops. He said government has introduced a new transparent process involving payments through the Adamawa State Board of Internal Revenue, electronic profiling, and digital data capture to prevent multiple allocations, illegal transfers, and speculative sales.
According to him, the ministry is determined to protect Governor Fintiri’s vision of a modern, transparent, and commercially viable market. The verification exercise is expected to be concluded within one to two weeks, after which wrongly excluded traders will begin receiving allocations.
Sahma said valuable lessons had been learned from the exercise. “Stronger safeguards are already being developed to prevent similar challenges in future market allocations across the state,” he added.
The Modibbo Adama Ultra Modern Market was rebuilt by the Fintiri administration after series of fire incidents that destroyed hundreds of shops and goods worth millions of naira.
