How
Nigeria’s Ex-Oil Minister Alison-Madueke Gave $115m To Fidelity Bank MD To
Compromise INEC Officials -EFCC
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, and some officials for allegedly receiving $115m from a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The EFCC also arrested the bank’s
Head of Operations, Mr. Martins Izuogbe, for his role in the alleged scam,
which the anti-graft agency described as unprecedented.
A reliable source in the commission
on Wednesday told our correspondent on condition of anonymity that during the
build-up to the 2015 presidential election, Diezani invited Okonkwo to help her
handle some cash, which would be disbursed to electoral officials and groups.
The source disclosed that the fraud
was uncovered when the EFCC began investigations into how officials of the
Independent National Electoral Commission in Rivers, Delta and Akwa Ibom states
received N675.1m.
The detective said, “The MD of
Fidelity Bank has been arrested and is currently in our custody. During investigations
into the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners, we got a major breakthrough as
funds disbursed were traced to Fidelity Bank.
“We invited the MD, who then
confessed to us that during the build-up to the presidential election, Diezani
invited him to a meeting in Abuja. Diezani told him that some companies would
deposit some funds in his bank and that she would give him further instructions
on how the funds would be disbursed.
“The first company, Auctus
Integrated, deposited $17,884,000 into the bank. The second company, Northern
Belt Gas Company, deposited $60m while another company, Midwestern Oil and Gas,
deposited $9.5m. A fourth company, Leno Laitan Adesanya, deposited $1.85m while
the MD himself received $26m in cash.”
The source alleged that Diezani’s
son, Ugonna Madueke, later served as a middleman between the former minister
and the MD of the bank.
He said it was Diezani’s son who
forwarded the names of the beneficiaries of the funds, which included INEC
officials and several interest groups as well as election monitors, who were
expected to compromise the electoral process.
He said, “The MD said it was
Diezani’s son that sent him a list of beneficiaries which included several INEC
officials and election monitors across the 36 states. Diezani specifically
instructed that the funds be disbursed at least a day or two before the
elections. The total amount of money was $115m and Diezani told the bank to
convert the funds into naira, which was about N23.3bn at the time.
“However, the suspects told us that
the volume of money was too big and they had problems converting the funds. So,
Diezani told the bank MD to use the bank’s funds and hold on to the dollars as
collateral and that after elections, the bank could use the dollars to replace
the bank funds.”
The source stated that Diezani did
not operate any account with the bank and wondered why Okonkwo would allow
himself to be used in such a manner.
“He may be charged with conspiracy
once we are done with investigations,” the source said. The PUNCHhad reported
that a wristwatch worth £600,000 was seized from Diezani during a raid on one
of her houses.
The ex-minister, who is currently
battling cancer, was last year arrested by the National Crimes Agency in the
United Kingdom for sundry allegations.
Under her watch as one of former
President Goodluck Jonathan’s most powerful ministers, dubious oil marketers
stole trillions of naira of oil subsidy money.
The then Governor of Central Bank of
Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (now the Emir of Kano), alleged that $20bn was
missing from the account of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, an
allegation which led to his suspension and replacement.
She had, however, denied all
allegations of corruption levelled against her. The family lawyer, Oscar
Onwudiwe, who had, in a statement, denied allegations against the former
minister, said, “The Madueke family, like most other families, has its own
challenges. For instance, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke has been receiving
treatment for cancer in the UK.”
All attempts to speak with the
spokesperson for Fidelity Bank, Mr. Ejike Ndiulo, proved abortive as his
telephone indicated that it was switched off.
However, a senior official of the
bank, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said the bank
would issue a statement on Thursday (today).
“We don’t have all the facts of the
case yet. However, we will issue a statement on the matter on later he said.
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