Nigeria’s former finance minister, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, was grilled and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday.
The EFCC is probing the role she played in how billions of naira was withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and paid into the accounts of six chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Goodluck Support Group (GSG).
Investigators say Usman ran a “Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited” account in which substantial parts of campaign funds were lodged and from where billions was shared to PDP chieftains.
Usman reported at the Lagos office of the EFCC and was kept thereafter. An unnamed investigator told The Nation that plans are underway to relocate her.
“We may relocate her to Abuja but for now, she has been detained in Lagos.
“She was said to have received the sum of N2.5 billion out of the over N4 billion which was transferred out of Central Bank of Nigeria into various individual and company accounts
“In addition, the sum of N140 million cash was allegedly paid into her Zenith Bank Account in January 2015.
“Some of these funds are said to have been traced to her personal account and her company’s account which she used to acquire properties in Abuja.”
A top source conversant with the deal, which landed the ex-Minister in trouble, said: “Mrs Usman was the Director of Finance of the Presidential Campaign Committee for the re-election of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. At the prompting of the former President, N4billion was withdrawn from the CBN under the guise of security needs for disbursement to party chieftains.
“The cash was transferred into the account of Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited, a company traced to Mrs Usman, where it was later shared to various individuals and organisations for purposes that are not stated.
“Nenadi, who made a statement to EFCC later went abroad on an undisclosed mission.
“Her trip slowed down investigation because as a vital coordinator, she ought to reappear for further interrogation. This development made the EFCC to watch-list the ex-minister.”
Some of those who received the slush funds from Usman are former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Chief Olu Falae; former Imo State Governor Achike Udenwa; former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Viola Onwuliri and Okey Ezenwa.
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