Lawal, while he was the SGF, was accused of looting the funds of the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE) through front companies. However, he has consistently maintained his innocence and denied the allegations.
But the investigation report submitted to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, by Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, found otherwise.
READ ALSO : Atiku has not been tried but voting for Buhari again would eclipse Nigeria – Olisa Agbakoba
Multiple sources at the Federal Ministry of Justice confirmed to THISDAY that Magu submitted the report to Malami last week.
The report includes draft charges the EFCC considered appropriate for the ex-SGF to face in the event the federal government decides to give him the opportunity to clear his name in the court of law.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on October 30 last year accepted the recommendations of the report of a panel, headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, which investigated allegations of corruption against Lawal and a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayodele Oke.
According to the EFCC report, between November 2015 and November 2017, PINE received about N16.9 billion. Of this, at least 11.6 billion was supposedly spent mostly through contracts to fronts.
READ ALSO : HSBC was in Nigeria to take funds out for money launderers, says Keyamo
The anti-corruption agency found that many of the contracts breached due process. It also discovered that many of the contractors were either fronts of Lawal or required to pay kickbacks to companies owned by him.
The main company that was allegedly used for this scam was Rholavision. EFCC matched up the ex-SGF’s Bank Verification Number (BVN) to the company account and found that he was the main signatory to the company account.
Over the two years, at least N566 million (about 5% of the total expenditure of PINE) over the period went to the account of Rholavision alone.
Are you an artiste? Do you want your music to go viral and reacha large number of audience? Promote your music and Submit your story on Ujuayalogusblog.com by clicking here. For Advert Inquiries Tel/+44(0)7590363984 Subscribe to Ujuayalogusblog.com
For More: Visit Us at Uju Ayalogu's Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment