BEVERLY HILLS, April 22, (THEWILL) – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained and questioned the former Finance Minister Mrs. Nenadi Usman.
Sources indicate that the EFCC is probing her role in how billions was withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and paid into the accounts of six chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Goodluck Support Group (GSG).
Usman allegedly owns an account, titled “Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited” in which a substantial part of the funds was lodged and disbursed to party chieftains.
Sources at the anti-graft agency added that N4bn was transferred from the account of the CBN into a mysterious account known as the Ministry of External Affairs Library.
The mysterious account was believed to be a conduit put in place by the Office of the National Security Adviser on the instructions of the Presidency.
From the mysterious account, N2.5bn was said to have been transferred to the company account of Usman while N140m cash was allegedly paid into her Zenith Bank account with number, 1000158311, domiciled in 7 Kachia Road, Kaduna.
The said transfer was said to have taken place in January 2015, during the build-up to the last presidential election.
Other suspected beneficiaries of the funds include former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader, Chief Olu Falae; former Imo State Governor, Achike Udenwa; former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Viola Onwuliri and Okey Ezenwa.
The details of how the funds were disbursed are: Fani-Kayode (N840million); Goodluck Support Group (N320million); Achike Udenwa and Viola Onwuliri (N350million); Nenadi Usman (N140million); and Okey Ezenwa (N100million).
Usman reported at the Lagos office of the agency and was immediately taken into custody for interrogation.
The EFCC also arrested a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Dr. Clement Iloh, to whose Zenith Bank N316 million traced to.
Iloh was currently in the EFCC custody as part of investigations into the fraud at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) under the leadership of the immediate past Director-General of the agency, Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi.
The EFCC in the course of investigating the Technical Committee for Ratification of MLC of NIMASA discovered that the sum of N14.1 million was paid to Clement & Bob Associates.
Further investigation revealed that the said company, Clement & Bob Associates, belongs to Dr. Clement Iloh, where he is the sole signatory.
It was further discovered that the sum of N49 million and N13 million were also paid into Clement & Bob Associates account from the now defunct Subsidy Reinvestment Programme, SURE –P.
Iloh has been unable to provide satisfactory answer on how he came about the said N316 million in which he has the sum of N200 million in fixed deposit and over N16 million as balance in Zenith Bank.
The EFCC also discovered that Iloh purchased property worth N75 million from Aso Savings and Loan, Abuja using the name of his wife, Rose.
Story by David Oputah
