EFCC operative tells court how N4.6bn was allegedly diverted for Sokoto governorship poll in 2015

An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operative, Kazeem Yusuf, on Tuesday told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court that the sum of N4.6 billion was allegedly diverted to finance the 2015 governorship election in Sokoto State.

Yusuf stated this while testifying as the second prosecution witness in the trial of a former Minister of State for Finance, Amb. Bashir Yuguda.

The commission arraigned Yuguda on a 25-count charge of misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, and receiving of stolen property.

Other defendants in the case are the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), former Sokoto State governor, Attahiru Bafarawa, his son Sagir, and Dalhatu Investment Limited owned by Bafarawa.

The witness, who was led in evidence by the EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), said the former EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu, set up a team to investigate the case based on a petition received from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

READ ALSO: EFCC re-arraigns ex-finance minister, Yuguda, Dasuki, 3 others for alleged N23bn fraud

He said: “In the course of the investigation we discovered that Dalhatu Investment Limited was one of the 78 companies alleged to have received money from ONSA without any documents to show that they bided for contracts.

“An analysis of the statement of account of Dalhatu Investment Limited got by EFCC from UBA revealed that the company got N4.6 billion. The amount was paid in installments between 2014 and 2015.

“Sagir Bafarawa told the EFCC team in his statement that the sum of N783 million was meant for prayers for the country because of the insecurity that was prevalent at that time.”

He later gave a breakdown of how the N4.6 billion was spent including a list of beneficiaries.

The witness listed the beneficiaries to include Amb. Abdallah Wali who received N580 million which he later told EFCC was meant for his governorship election in 2015.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now