The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has begun a fresh investigation into what it described as a “curious” transfer of N6.7bn from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to the Office of the National Security Adviser and two other agencies after the 2015 presidential election.
A top source in the EFCC, who confided in The PUNCH on Sunday, said the commission had started investigation into reasons for the payments, which the office of the SGF said were for security services.
The letter, which authorised the payments, was dated March 30, 2015, two days after the presidential election was held on March 28.
According to the document from the Office of the SGF, Special Services Office, other beneficiaries of the curious fund transfer were the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Mr. Ekpeyong Ita; and an agency simply referred to as MEA Research Library.
The letter, which was sighted by our correspondent, and addressed to the Branch Controller, the Central Bank of Nigeria, Abuja Branch, read in part, “Please, credit the account(s) of the under-listed beneficiaries and debit our account number above with the sum of N6,076,834,131.00 (Six billion, seventy six million, eight hundred and thirty four thousand, one hundred and thirty-one naira only).”
It stated that N3.1bn should be transferred to the account of the DSS; MEA Research Library, N2.6bn, and the ONSA, N216.8m.
Our correspondent gathered that the EFCC would invite a few former public officers, including the former DSS boss, under whose tenure the payments were made.
The EFCC source stated, “Nobody has been indicted yet, but we are going to invite those involved for clarifications. I am talking about those who have not been indicted. The fact that the payments were made after the presidential poll made them curious.”
Fresh facts have also emerged on some transactions in the office of the former NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).
A staff Officer, Accountant 1 in the ONSA, Yazidu Ibrahim, in his statement of witness made to the EFCC, stated that under the former NSA, contracts were awarded without the input or approval of the tenders board and procurement unit.
He added that in the last five years, companies that were awarded contracts, did not pay withholding tax, saying the authority to award contracts resided in Dasuki.
The officer alleged that payments for contracts were, on several occasions, paid without accompanying documents.
Ibrahim stated, “To the best of my knowledge, there is no tenders board and procurement unit in the NSA 0ffice. The awarding authority for all contractors remained the NSA. All payments to contracts are based on directive from the DFA (Director of Finance and Administration). Sometimes, there were no accompanying documents. Most times, there are nothing except account details of contractors.”
“Many of the payments were related to the 2015 presidential election and not for national security. Many people in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party got huge sums of money like Attahiru Bafarawa, Chief Raymond Dokpesi and Chief Tony Anenih.”
There was a report on Sunday that a former Minister of State, Bashir Yuguda, in a statement made to the EFCC, said he gave a total of N600m cash to six chairmen of the Contact and Mobilisation Committee of the PDP for the 2015 general elections.
Those who allegedly benefitted included Chief Bode George (South-West); Amb. Yerima Abdullahi (North-East); Peter Odili (South-South); Attahiru Bafarawa (North-West); Jim Nwobodo (South -East); and Ahmadu Ali (North-Central).
According to him, he instructed Jabbama Limited to transfer N300m to BAM Properties, whose account detail was given to him by a former National Chairman of the PDP, Bello Haliru.
Yuguda, who made the allegations in a Statement of Witness/Caution, which he wrote on oath, said he paid N200m to the erstwhile PDP governorship candidate in Kebbi State, Bello Yaki.
The statement is part of the proof of evidence against the former minister, whose trial is scheduled to commence this week at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.
Meanwhile, George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, has denied receiving N100m from Yuguda, but admitted that he received $30,000 from the former minister of state for finance.
Apart from receiving some money from Dasuki’s office, Yuguda was also said to have collected N1.5bn from Stallion Group for the 2015 general elections.
George, who is currently in the United Kingdom, said this during a telephone interview with one of our correspondents on Sunday.
While Bafarawa a former governor of Sokoto State, has since confessed to receiving N100m, George told one of our correspondents that only $30,000 cash was given to him as the head of the South-West committee.
George said the committee was not a mobilisation committee but an elders’ consultative committee set up to reconcile aggrieved party members ahead of the elections.
He explained that the South-West committee had three PDP elders from each of the six states in the South-West.
It was learnt that the three delegates that represented Lagos were George, a former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe; and a former Minister of Communications, Maj. Gen Tajudeen Olanrewaju (retd.).
Other members of the committee were former Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel; Senator Femi Kila (Ekiti); and a former National Vice Chairman, PDP South-West, Senator Yinka Omilani (Osun).
George added, “Yuguda gave me $30,000 to share among ourselves. Each person received $1,500 including myself.
“We held a series of meetings in Lagos and the money was used to settle hotel bills, transport and sittings. So, I don’t know what Yuguda is talking about.
“If the money that was given to us was stolen, how was I supposed to know?”
In a separate statement signed by his spokesman, Mr. Uthman Shodipo, George said the allegations levelled against him were part of a plot to run him down.
He added, “The salient fact is that very early this year, long before the election period, the party set up a Contact and Mobilisation Committee for each zone to reconcile various factions and ensure a firm unity of purpose within the zones before the elections. I was elected as the Chairman of the South-West zone.
“Sometime in the middle of these deliberations, Yuguda came to me and said the party was reimbursing the 18 elders of the committee for their transport, accommodation and feeding allowances for the work that was done.
“The committee later submitted the report of its deliberations to the party and then wound up. For all these efforts, Yuguda gave the committee only $30,000. That was less than N6m at that time. Yuguda can never claim that he gave the committee N100m.”
Also speaking with one of our correspondents on Sunday, Ogunlewe said Yuguda was grasping at straws.
The former minister said the committee was set up to reconcile aggrieved parties after the primaries and wondered why N100m would be given to such a committee.
“The committee was set up to reconcile aggrieved parties and we were given small allowances. So, I don’t understand how N100m came into the picture.
“Yuguda is just singing. Let him prove what he has said in court,” Ogunlewe added.
In a related development, the Office of the National Security Adviser has called on all companies, who had contracts with or rendered services to the ONSA to appear before the Contract Verification Committee sitting in its premises between December 15 and December 23.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Principal General Staff Officer, ONSA on Sunday.
The ONSA asked the contractors to appear through accredited representatives of at least the status of a director.
It asked the contractors to come with the following documents, “Certificate of Incorporation, Particulars of Directors, Tax clearance certificate from 2011 till date, letter of award of contract, invoice for supplies or services, evidence of payments so far or outstanding balance, personal income tax clearance certificates of directors and any other documents considered relevant to the contract.”
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