the Goodluck Jonathan campaign
organisation, is being quizzed by the EFCC
for allegedly receiving N2.5bn from
mysterious account to her company
– An EFCC source revealed that Usman was
cooperating with the agency and returned
N23m to the federal government
– She said that all her actions were based
on the instructions of the former president,
and she did not know that the funds
belonged to taxpayers
Nenadi Usman is being quizzed by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Nenadi Usman, a former finance minister,
has reportedly returned N23m to the federal
government.
Usman, who served as the director of
finance of the Goodluck Jonathan campaign
organisation, is being quizzed by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) for allegedly receiving N2.5bn from
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a
reliable source told News men that Usman
was cooperating with the anti-graft agency
and promised to return more money.
During the interrogation, Usman stressed
that all her actions were based on the
instructions of the former president. She
added that she did not know that the funds
belonged to taxpayers.
She said that as the director of finance of
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
presidential campaign organisation, she was
asked to set up a bank account during the
build-up to the election, which she did.
Usman revealed that all donations were
made to Jonathan’s campaign through Joint
Trust Dimensions Nigeria Limited. She noted
that through the said account funds were
released to all campaign directors, zonal
coordinators and other related parties and
groups which campaigned for the PDP.
According Usman, Femi Fani-Kayode, the
director of publicity, was paid N840m
through the same account. Chief Olu Falae,
the chairman of the Social Democratic Party,
and Rashidi Ladoja, also allegedly received
N100m each through the said account.
“She told us that she did not know the funds
belonged to the Federal Government. However,
we asked her why she didn’t verify and also
why didn’t she set up an account bearing the
name of the PDP. Why did she use her
company account if not that she wanted to
keep things secret,” the source said.
Meanwhile, one of the campaign managers
of Jonathan’s re-election campaign said the
National Intelligence Agency (NIA) knew
about the alleged diversion of funds from
the CBN.
The EFCC source noted that the account
was set up by the NIA, which is under the
office of the national security adviser. He
revealed that some officials of the NIA had
been already quizzed by the anti-graft
agency to explain why the account was set
up.
“During the build-up to the last elections, when
monies were going to be diverted from the
account of the CBN, the Ministry of External
Affairs Library was set up with the connivance
of officials of the NIA. It was done so that the
transaction would seem as if the money was
being ed to a federal government account and
it would not raise any red flags. The
permanent secretary at the villa then drew up
a memo on the instructions of the president
and the CBN deposited the funds into the
account of the Ministry of External Affairs.
“From there, the money was paid into Joint
Trust Dimensions Nigeria Limited, from where
monies were sent to all stakeholders during
the electioneering. Preliminary investigations
however suggest that the Ministry of External
Affairs Library does not even exist,” the
source said.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, a former
commissioner of the Lagos state police
command, urged Goodluck Jonathan to
break the silence and explain the role he
played in the $2.1bn arms funds scandal.
According to Tsav, “silence is not golden for
Jonathan at this period,” therefore, he should
speak out or the anti-graft agency should
invite him.
0 comments:
Post a Comment