The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday and Tuesday
arrested key leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party in the North-East
states of Borno, Adamawa, Yobe and Gombe.
The arrests, it was
learnt, were part of investigations into the $115m (N23bn) allegedly
disbursed by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani
Alison-Madueke, during the build-up to the 2015 presidential election.
This
is just as Senator Saidu Kumo, who is the Special Adviser, Political
Matters, to the embattled PDP Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff; and a former
PDP Chairman in Gombe State, Paloma Nuhu, returned N2m each from their
share of the money.
Some of those arrested include: a former
Minister of Power, Mohammed Wakil (Borno); a former Minister of Science
and Technology, Alhaji Abdu Bulama (Yobe); and the PDP chairman, Mr.
Joel Madaki (Adamawa). The accountant of the Gombe State Government
House, Mr. Mohammed Balbaya, was also arrested for the Diezani bribe.
Explaining
the reason for the arrests, a reliable source at the EFCC told our
correspondent that the suspects handled N450m each for their respective
states.
The source said the PDP chairman in Adamawa State was
arrested for receiving N450m. The chairman, Madaki, was said to have
told investigators that the money was handed over to the then acting
Governor Bala Ngilari.
The detective said, “The PDP chairman in
Adamawa has shifted the burden of explaining how the sum of N450m
campaign funds sent to the state were distributed by the former acting
governor of the state, Ngilari.
“In a statement he wrote and
signed at the EFCC office in Gombe, the PDP chair said he, in
conjunction with a former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,
Hassan Adamu, a signatory to the document, authorised the release of
the money by the officials of Fidelity bank in Yola.
“Madaki,
however, said he immediately gave the money to the former acting
governor of the state for disbursement to the beneficiaries as envisaged
by the donor, adding ‘I did not know how Ngilari distributed the
money’.”
The source revealed that Adamu had been invited to
explain his own side of the story on June 16. It was also learnt that
Ngilari might soon be invited by the anti-graft agency.
Regarding
the sharing of the fund in Gombe State, the EFCC source said the
accountant of the Gombe State Government House, Mr. Mohammed Balbaya,
was arrested and interrogated.
The detective said, “Balbaya was
interrogated for his role in the N338m campaign funds sent to Gombe. He
told investigators that he collected the sum in cash from an official of
Fidelity Bank in the state based on the directive of Senator Kumo.
“He
said that he contacted the Permanent Secretary and Principal Private
Secretary to the governor of the state, Dr.Sani Jauro, who directed him
to share the money to the beneficiaries. He denied deriving personal
benefit from the process. However, he had not shown who the
beneficiaries were and the amount individual or group collected from
him.
“Senator Kumo and the state former PDP chairman, Paloma
Nuhu, have through bank drafts refunded N2m each which they claimed to
be their personal benefits from the funds. The said amount came from the
sum of N106m both signed and collected from Fidelity Bank for their
state. However, Senator Kumo could not account for the balance of
N106m.”
In Borno and Yobe states, the funds were allegedly coordinated by ex-ministers Wakil and Bulama respectively.
A
source at the anti-graft agency quoted Bulama as saying that he
collected N450m from the Director of Finance, Goodluck Jonathan Campaign
Organisation, Senator Nenadi Usman, for use in funding the PDP
presidential election in the state.
“Former Minister of Finance
Nenadi Usman called and informed me to go and collect money in Fidelity
Bank. A five-man committee was set up to coordinate the campaign
activities in Yobe State, and we received N450m.
“The
money was disbursed based on a template we received from Abuja and we
shared it among the three senatorial zones in the state.”
The Borno State Coordinator, Wakil also confirmed he received N450m, according to the EFCC source.
“I received a call from Nenadi Usman, former Minister of Finance, that
N450m was sent to Fidelity Bank and a template for how the disbursement
of the funds will be conducted.”