Former SEC boss Gwarzo, commissioner docked for misappropriation of N115m

A former Director-General, Mounir Gwarzo and an Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services, Zakwanu Garuba, in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were on Tuesday arraigned before a High Court in Abuja.

Gwarzo was arraigned alongside, Zakawanu Garuba, by Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for alleged acts of corruption involving mismanagement of over N115 million.

The ICPC accused Gwarzo of enriching himself by receiving a sum of N104.85 million as severance benefit while he was yet to resign or retire from service and also the sum of N10.98 million in excess of car grant in June 2015.

On the other hand, ICPC accused Garuba of colluding with the SEC boss by approving the payments.

When Justice Husseini Baba-Yusuf of the High Court of the FCT, Abuja read their charges to them, the duo pleaded not guilty of the five counts, of which three were related to Gwarzo while two were related to Garuba.

The defendants were granted bail with a bond of N25 million each.

The accused persons are to produce two sureties in like sum. The sureties must be civil servants, not below the rank of deputy directors and working under the employment of the Federal Civil Service. The sureties must also have landed properties in Abuja.
The defendants were also asked to submit their international passports to the court registrar.

Meanwhile, Justice Husseini Baba-Yusuf adjourned the case till June 28.

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, had suspended Gwarzo over alleged corruption charges leveled against him in November, 2017.

She subsequently set up an Administrative Panel of Inquiry (API) to investigate and determine the culpability of the Director-General.

It was alleged that Adeosun unearthed a previous petition against Gwarzo and suspended him as SEC boss because he demanded to be served in writing with her order to stop SEC’s forensic audit of Oando Plc.

While describing a media report on his refusal to stop the forensic audit as “misleading and mischievous,” Gwarzo noted that the insinuation of an instruction to discontinue with the Oando case is not true.
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