Published 25th Dec, 2023

By Abimbola Abatta

In 2022, people like Ahmed Idris, the then Accountant-General of the Federation; Olasupo Shasore (SAN), a former Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice; and Doyin Okupe, a former Senior Special Assistant on Media to the President, battled corruption scandals.

This year, comparable scandals have also affected a few high-ranking government officials. FIJ highlights some of the public officials involved in corruption scandals in 2023, citing charges ranging from theft to power abuse.

GODWIN EMEFIELE: FRAUD

In June, the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested Godwin Emefiele, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for fraud.

He was later charged in court alongside Sa’adatu Yaro, a female employee of the apex bank and her company called April 1616 Investment.

In addition to being accused of using his position to corruptly confer an advantage on Yaro by awarding a contract for the procurement of 43 vehicles worth N1.2 billion between 2018 and 2020, the ex-CBN governor was alleged to have awarded Yaro a contract for the procurement of two Toyota Landcruiser VXR V8 worth N138 million.

A report by Jim Obazee, the special investigator probing the CBN, revealed that Emefiele used ill-gotten wealth to acquire banks for himself through proxies.

Obazee’s report also claimed that Emefiele engaged in fraudulent cash withdrawals of $6.23 million, perpetrated fraud in the redesign of the naira and kept 543.4 million pounds in the United Kingdom.

ABDULRASHEED BAWA: ABUSE OF OFFICE

As of September 13, Abdulrasheed Bawa, a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had spent 90 days in the Department of State Services (DSS) custody.

Prior to his arrest by the DSS, President Bola Tinubu suspended Bawa because of “weighty allegations of abuse of office levelled against him”.

Although he was released after spending 134 days in custody, the DSS was silent on the specific offences for which he was arrested and the level of investigation.

The PUNCH, however, reported that he was being probed for alleged financial impropriety during his active years in the anti-graft agency.

ADEJOKE ORELOPE-ADEFULIRE

An FIJ investigation revealed that Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, former President Muhammadu Buhari’s senior special assistant on sustainable development goals (SSAP-SDGs), paid a restaurant N147.1 million to build classrooms in Lagos State.

On May 15, 2023, her office paid the money to Enseno Global Ventures Ltd. for the construction of one acquisition centre (type A) and a block of six classrooms at Ajeromi Primary School in Lagos State. The payment was made just two weeks before the end of Buhari’s tenure.

When FIJ visited the Ajeromi Ifelodun community in October, there was neither a sign of new classrooms nor skill acquisition centres.

FIJ would later be directed to two new locations that reportedly house the classrooms and skill centre. But on getting there, FIJ found that the restaurant built a classroom and acquisition centre a year before the government paid for it. Not only that, a school project in Ajeromi wound up in two locations far away from the LGA.

OLU AGUNLOYE: CORRUPTION AND FORGERY

Olu Agunloye, a former minister of power and steel, was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) earlier this month.

In a public announcement on social media, the EFCC stated that Agunloye was wanted over a corruption and forgery allegation.

Checks revealed that this was connected to a $6 billion Mambilla hydropower contract, which remains a source of controversy even years after it was first awarded in 2003.

Although the EFCC later detained Agunloye after he was declared wanted, he was granted bail on December 20. The PUNCH revealed that he would be arraigned in court in January 2024 on charges of official corruption and forgery.

SALEH MAMMAN

In May, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested and detained Saleh Mamman, a former minister of power under Buhari, in connection with an alleged N22 billion fraud.

According to local reports, EFCC grilled Mamman in connection with a probe into an alleged embezzlement and diversion of about N22 billion in the execution of some power projects.

LADI ADEBUTU: VOTE-BUYING

Ladi Adebutu, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 governorship election in Ogun State, was arraigned on July 10 for vote-buying.

The federal government took him to court, alongside others, for alleged conspiracy, bribery and money laundering.

“According to the charge sheet of the case with no AB/10C/2003 filed at the high court and dated June 2, 2023, Adebutu, along with Messers Ogunbona Hammed, Tiamiyu Waliu, Egunsola Owolabi, Sanni Adegoke, Hon. Dare Lukman Ogunleye, Dayo Fasina, Wasiu Enilolobo and Malik Badmus, were being prosecuted on a four-count charge, namely one count of criminal conspiracy contrary to Section 121 of the Electoral Act, 2022, bribery contrary to Section 121 of the Electoral Act, 2022, and two counts of undue influence contrary to Section 127 of the Electoral Act, 2022,” a local report stated.

CHINYERE IGWE: MONEY LAUNDERING

The police arrested Chinyere Igwe, a former federal lawmaker in Rivers State, after he was caught with $498,100 and a list of possible recipients for the money in February.

Igwe was arrested on suspicion of attempted vote-buying and money laundering before the presidential election. Although he was charged in court, the case against him was dropped months later.

On June 21, the Rivers State Government, through Zacchaeus Adangor, the state’s attorney general and commissioner for justice, withdrew the money laundering and criminal charges against him.

SADIYA UMAR-FAROUQ: FRAUD

In December, documents obtained from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) revealed that N37 billion was laundered in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs under Sadiya Umar-Farouq.

Umar-Farouq served as the pioneer Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development during Buhari’s administration.

The EFCC is currently probing how the money was transferred from the federal government to 38 different bank accounts connected with James Okwete, a contractor.

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