The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Tuesday arraigned Bashir Sa’idu, the former Chief of Staff to ex-Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over allegations of forex racketeering and money laundering.
Sa’idu, who also served as the Commissioner for Finance under El-Rufai’s administration, is facing his second legal battle with the anti-corruption agency. Earlier, he had been charged before the Federal High Court in Kaduna on allegations of N155 million fraud.
In the latest 10-count charge presented before the Kaduna State High Court, the ICPC accused him of selling $45 million in government funds at an undervalued rate of N410 per dollar, instead of the parallel market rate of N498 per dollar. The agency claims this transaction resulted in a financial loss of N3.96 billion to the Kaduna State Government, which was allegedly laundered in violation of Section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
During his court appearance before Justice Isa Aliyu, Sa’idu pleaded not guilty to all charges. His defense counsel, M.I. Abubakar, requested bail, arguing that his client had been in custody for 21 days since his arrest on January 2, 2025. However, the prosecution, represented by Prof. Nasiru Aliyu, opposed the request, citing the statutory seven-day period required to file a response to bail applications.
Following a 40-minute recess, Justice Aliyu ruled in favor of allowing the prosecution adequate time to respond and adjourned the bail hearing to January 23, 2025.
Sa’idu is the fourth former El-Rufai appointee to face trial by the ICPC. Just last week, the agency announced the upcoming arraignment of three other former officials from the Kaduna State Government, including ex-Senior Special Adviser/Counsellor Lawal Adebisi, former Accountant General Umar Waziri, and former Finance Commissioner Yusuf Inuwa.
The ICPC alleges that these officials were involved in money laundering amounting to N64 million. According to ICPC spokesperson Demola Bakare, the accused are said to have conspired to divert the sum in three separate transactions, funneling the funds into the bank account of Solar Life Nigeria Limited, a company where Adebisi is believed to be the sole signatory.
The Kaduna State House of Assembly had previously indicted the El-Rufai administration for allegedly mismanaging N423 billion, an accusation the former governor has strongly denied.
No comments:
Post a Comment