The Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission has traced N3.145bn transferred to the private accounts of
some members of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign
Organisation.
According to detectives at the
EFCC, the money emanated from the account of the Central Bank of Nigeria and
was transferred to the account of a company, Joint Dimensions Limited, and then
sent to various accounts.
Authorities of the anti-graft
commission said the money was deposited into
Fani-Kayode’s Zenith bank account, Maitama Branch with number 1004735721 on
February 19, 2015.
The detectives said a former
Secretary to the Government of the Federation and National Chairman of the
Social Democratic Party, Chief Olu Falae, received N100m through a company,
Marreco Limited, where he is chairman. The fund was credited into the company’s
United Bank for Africa Plc account number 1000627022 on March 25, 2014.
According to the documents,
N320m was also paid into the bank account of the Goodluck Support Group, an
association which played a major role in Jonathan’s campaign.
A former Governor of Imo State,
Achike Udenwa, and a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Viola
Onwuliri, according to the documents, got N350m in two tranches. The first
tranche of N150m was paid into their joint account with Zenith bank on January
13, 2015. The second tranche of N200m was credited into their account with
Diamond bank.
A source said, “The money was
paid by the Central Bank of Nigeria into the account of the Ministry of
External Affairs Library, from where it was moved into the account of Joint
Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited.
“It was from the Joint
Dimension’s account with Zenith bank that the money was shared to various individuals
and organisations for purposes that are not stated.
“Fani-Kayode was the chief
beneficiary of the disbursement as he allegedly received a whooping N840m, paid
in three tranches into his Zenith bank, Maitama branch account with number
1004735721.
“The first tranche of payment
involving N350m hit the account on February 19, 2015. Another N250m was also
paid into the account on February 19, 2015 while N240m was similarly credited to
the account a month later; precisely, March 19, 2015.
“The balance in this account as
of December 31, 2015 was N189, 402.72.”
The detectives added that the
Director of Finance of the campaign organisation, Nenadi Usman, also got N36.9m
through her Zenith bank account with number 1000158311 on 7, Kachia Road,
Kaduna.
Presidential Campaign
Coordinator of President Goodluck Jonathan in Anambra State, Chief Okey Ezenwa,
who is also the brother-in-law to a former Rivers State Governor, Chief Peter
Odili, also got N100m, according to the source.
He added, “But as things stand,
the fact that most of the payments were made in the weeks preceding the last
presidential elections leaves very little to the imagination. Yet, one knotty
question that confronts the investigators is the unknown figure behind Joint
Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited and the account where the money was warehoused
before being wired to sundry beneficiaries. The shadowy figure could help
unravel the mystery shrouding the payments, once the veil is lifted.”