The Economic and Financial Commission on
Thursday named some of the individuals and public officials who
collected from an alleged bribe of $115m doled out by a former Minister
of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, to compromise the
2015 general elections.
In a document tendered by the anti-graft
agency before the Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday, it stated
that the Resident Assistant Inspector-General of Police in Kwara State
at the time received N1m cash.
The document stated that while the
Commissioner of Police in Kwara State at the time received N10m cash,
the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations got N2m cash.
Similarly, both the Assistant
Commissioners of Police in charge of operations and administration in
Kwara State, according to the document, received N1m cash each.
The document also showed that the
Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kwara State for the 2015 general
elections was also given a cash of N10m, while the Independent National
Electoral Commission’s Administrative Secretary in Kwara State at the
time received N5m cash.
The INEC Head of Department, Operations
and “his boys” were given N5m, while “other officers” received and
shared N2m among themselves.
Also listed as beneficiaries of the
Diezani bribe in Kwara State were OC Mopol and “his men”, who got N7m;
21c Mopol and men in the state, who got N10m; the Director of the DSS
and his men, who got N2.5m.
The military in Kwara State was bribed
with N50m, according to the document, while other security agencies
including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Federal
Road Safety Corps got N20m.
An investigator with the EFCC, Usman
Zakari, who brought the document to court on Thursday, told Justice
Rilwan Aikawa that it was recovered from a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,
Mr. Dele Belgore.
Belgore is standing trial before Justice
Aikawa for allegedly collecting N450m from Diezani and distributing
same to beneficiaries in Kwara State.
The EFCC accused him of handling the
money in cash without going through any financial institution, an act
said to be an offence under sections 1(a), 16(d), 15(2)(d) and 18(a) of
the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012.
The EFCC said Belgore is liable to be punished under sections 15(3)(4), and 16(2)(b) of the same Act.
Standing trial along with Belgore for the offence is a former Minister of National Planning, Prof. Abubakar Suleiman.
The SAN and the don were arraigned on charges of money laundering on February 8, 2017 but they pleaded not guilty.
Zakari is the second witness to be called by the EFCC in its efforts to prove its case.
Testifying before Justice Aikawa on
Thursday, Zakari explained that Belgore volunteered the list to the EFCC
when he was invited and interrogated by the anti-graft agency.
The investigator pointed out to the
court Belgore’s endorsement on the document titled, “Security and
Transportation per State,” stating: “document supplied by me, Mohammed
Dele Belgore (SAN).”
Equally, the EFCC exhibited another document recovered from Belgore also showing other beneficiaries.
The document simply titled “Kwara State” showed beneficiaries of a sum of N155,220,000 and the breakdown of what they got.
Among them were 15 electoral officers
who each received, 250,000; 15 supervisors, who got N100,000 each; the
state Returning Officer, who got N1m, among others.
The two documents were tendered by the
EFCC prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, and admitted in evidence as Exhibit
7 and 7A, against Belgore and Suleiman, as their lawyers, Mr. Ebun
Shofunde (SAN) and Mr. Olatunji Ayanlaja (SAN), raised no objection.
In his evidence, Zakari told the court
that the EFCC’s findings showed that the money was disbursed in cash to
the beneficiaries.
“My Lord, the mode of payment, as
contained in Exhibit 7, is cash payment. The payments were not done
through any financial institution,” Zakari said.
The case was adjourned till July 7.
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