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Four ex-ministers, ex-gov named in N3.1b EFCC probe

By Abosede Musari, Abuja
15 March 2016   |   2:46 am
Four former ministers and one ex-governor have been mentioned in a new tranche of investigations currently being carried out by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
File Photo

File Photo

Four former ministers and one ex-governor have been mentioned in a new tranche of investigations currently being carried out by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

They are alleged to have shared N3.1 billion in a bazaar that preceded the 2015 general elections. But it is not yet clear if the money is in any way connected with ongoing investigations into the arms procurement fraud.

A top source who confided in The Guardian last night stated that the EFCC stumbled on evidence that showed how prominent politicians allegedly shared N3.145 billion in the build-up to the last presidential elections.

He further informed that the money was paid by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) into the account of the Ministry of External Affairs Library account, from where it was moved into another account .

One of the former ministers was alleged to have got the lion’s share to the tune of N840 million, paid in three tranches into his bank.

The first tranche of payment involving N350 million hit the account on February 19, 2015. Another N250milion was also paid into the account on February19, 2015 while yet another N240million was allegedly credited to the account a month later, on March 19, 2015.

An election support group is said to have been the next biggest beneficiary by allegedly receiving N320million.

Another former minister allegedly received N100 million through a company where he is chairman. The fund was credited into the company’s bank account on March 25, 2014”.

Both the former governor and ex-minister got N350 million in two tranches. The first tranche of N150 million was paid into their joint account on January 13, 2015. The second tranche of N200 million was credited into their account .

The fourth former minister took her own share of the booty through her bank account in Kaduna. Another N36.9 million was credited to her. Coming at the rear is another suspect who pocketed N100 million.

Another source who spoke with The Guardian from within the anti-graft agency noted that detectives were left to decipher the motives for the bazaar.

“But as things stand, the fact that most of the payments were made in the weeks preceding the last presidential elections leaves very little to the imagination.

“Yet one knotty question that confronts the investigators is the figure behind … the account where the fund was warehoused before being wired to sundry beneficiaries. The shadowy figure could help unravel the mystery shrouding the payments, once the veil is lifted,” he said.

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