ICPC To Arraign Firm, 3 Ex-Aides Of Nasir El-Rufai Over N64.8m Money Laundering Charges

ICPC is set to arraign firm and 3 Ex-Aides of Nasir El-Rufai over alleged N64.8m money laundering charges.

NaijaOnPoint Nigeria reports that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is set to arraign a firm and three former aides of ex-Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, on fresh money laundering charges totalling N64.8 million.

The ICPC’s spokesperson, Mr. Demola Bakare, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

He revealed that the accused individuals, including Mr. Lawal Adebisi, a former Senior Special Adviser to El-Rufai; Mr. Umar Waziri, an ex-Accountant General of Kaduna State; and Mr. Yusuf Inuwa, a former Finance Commissioner in the state, will appear before the Federal High Court in Kaduna on Friday, January 17, 2025, to take their plea.

 “ICPC is accusing Mr. Lawal of conniving with the two other accused persons to have diverted the total sum of N64,800,562 (Sixty-Four Million, Eight Hundred Thousand, Five-hundred and Sixty-two Naira) in three tranches of N10,000,000.00, N47,840,000.00, and N7,320,562.00 to the bank account of Solar Life Nigeria Limited where Mr. Lawal is believed to be the sole signatory,” the statement read. 

Solar Life Nigeria Limited, is alleged to have played a central role in the scheme. The funds in question were reportedly diverted into the company’s bank account, with Mr. Lawal serving as its sole signatory.

Another arraignment in Kaduna 

• This arraignment follows a separate case filed by the ICPC last week against the former Chief of Staff and Commissioner for Finance in Kaduna State, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’idu.
•  In that case, the commission accused Sa’idu of accepting a cash payment of N155 million from Ibrahim Muktar, a public officer in the Ministry of Finance.
• The ICPC stated that the charge, filed before the Federal High Court in Kaduna, involved two counts of money laundering.

What you should know 

• The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) recovered over N52 billion and $966,900.83 in 2024.
• These recoveries include N29.7 billion in cash currently held in ICPC recovery accounts, N10.98 billion in VAT remitted to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and N10 billion initially allocated for COVID-19 vaccine production, which was returned to the treasury.
• Additionally, assets worth N2.5 billion were recovered through court-ordered forfeitures.
• In its drive to prevent the diversion of public funds, the commission intercepted N5.882 billion across 323 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
• The ICPC has been actively involved in tracking constituency and executive projects nationwide. Recently, it launched the tracking of over N10.47 billion constituency projects executed by federal lawmakers in Osun State.,
• This initiative is part of the Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative (CEPTI), which, in its seventh phase, has covered 1,500 projects valued at N610 billion nationwide.