From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Barring any last-minute change of plans, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is set to arraign in court three ex-appointees of former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, in a fresh 64 million naira money laundering suit.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by the ICPC Spokesperson, Mr Demola Bakare, on Thursday.
The former appointees include Mr. Lawal Shakiru Olajimi Adebisi, who served as a Senior Special Adviser/Counsellor to El-Rufai; Mr. Umar Waziri, the former Accountant General of Kaduna State; and Mr. Yusuf Inuwa, the former Finance Commissioner. Also implicated in the suit is Solar Life Nigeria Limited, the company believed to have received the misappropriated funds in its bank account.
In the lawsuit filed at the Federal High Court, Kaduna Judicial Division, the ICPC accuses Mr. Lawal of colluding with the other two defendants to misappropriate a total of N64,800,562 (Sixty-Four Million, Eight Hundred Thousand, Five Hundred and Sixty-Two Naira) in three transactions: N10,000,000, N47,840,000, and N7,320,562. It is alleged that these funds were transferred to Solar Life Nigeria Limited, where Mr. Lawal is thought to be the sole signatory.
The four defendants are scheduled to appear in court on Friday, January 17, 2025, to enter their pleas.
It would be recalled that ICPC, last week, in a separate charge, arraigned the former Chief of Staff and Commissioner of Finance in Kaduna State, Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu, for a money laundering suit.
ICPC, in a two-count charge also filed before the Federal High Court in Kaduna, accused Saidu of accepting a cash payment of N155,000,000 from Ibrahim Muktar, a public officer in the Ministry of Finance.