Recall that the self-acclaimed ‘koko master’ was detained by the commission on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, after he had been questioned over his involvement in the alleged diversion of funds meant for the Federal Government’s economic empowerment programme, N-Power.

On his part, Pelumi Olajengbesi, the lawyer to popular singer, Oladapo Oyebanjo, aka D’banj, said his client was released unconditionally by the commission.

However, the ICPC, through its spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, maintained that the anti-graft agency was still investigating the matter.

“Investigations are still ongoing, please,” Ogugua said.

D’banj’s lawyers told Saturday Beats, “D’banj was released unconditionally after the ICPC did all they could to find something on him, but they found nothing on him.

“ICPC only started the investigation when D’banj was detained. They found nothing on him after he was properly questioned and drilled. They had to even go beyond the scope of their investigation, yet they found nothing. We are glad that they were professional about it. They treated him kindly and released him. He was released on self-recognisance.”

The lawyer insisted that there was no case in court. He said, “There is no case in court, D’banj was not charged to court by the ICPC. They can decide to come up with anything tomorrow, as it is within their power and responsibility. They are still doing their investigations and we expect them to clear him officially when they are done with it.”

He is currently detained at the ICPC Headquarters, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Premium Times had earlier exclusively reported that D’banj was arrested and detained on Tuesday.

An impeccable source within the anti-graft agency confirmed that D’banj was arrested and detained on the said day after ICPC operatives forced him to surrender after threats that he’d be arrested anywhere in the world, if he failed to show up.

The source noted that though D’Banj had earlier been invited for questioning on several occasions the singer had refused to show up, claiming that he was out of the country for scheduled concerts.

The source said, “Our investigation shows that D’banj colluded with some government officials to infuse ghost beneficiaries into the payroll of the scheme. With this, the stipend paid to those ghost beneficiaries are directly paid to bank accounts linked to the singer.On arrival he was interrogated for hours after which he was detained and his plea for administrative bail was rejected by officials, for lack of trust.”

The source who noted that an official statement would soon be released concerning the matter, confirmed that D’Banj would be arraigned in court this week, for an extended remand order to enable further investigation before finally charging him to court to answer to the allegations

The list of seized assets include 33 buildings, plots of land and a factory forfeited to the Federal Government by a former accountant with the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, Dr Jimoh Olatunde.

Olatunde is the prosecution witness in a case of official corruption and abuse of office brought against Prof Dibu Ojerinde, a former head of the National Examination Council and later JAMB registrar.

The ex-JAMB accountant was believed to have acted as proxy for Ojerinde.

The ICPC in an 18-count accused Ojerinde of diverting public funds estimated at about N5.2bn while he was the head of NECO and JAMB.

Olatunde, who was also the Deputy Director and Head of Treasury, NECO, revealed how Ojerinde allegedly diverted N341.9m from the examination body to set up a personal printing press, school and buildings.

The witness, who testified before the High Court of Niger State, Minna, told the trial judge, Justice Abdullahi Mikailu, that N216,297,443 was deceitfully withdrawn from NECO account for payment for 17 fictitious printing contracts, which were used for establishing the printing press.

Also, no fewer than 1,233 bank accounts have been frozen by the anti-graft commission between 2019 and now.

However, 60 of the accounts belonging to 15 persons, who were investigated for corruption, have been finally forfeited to the Federal Government.

The accounts contained N547.7m and $669,248.89 in total.

A former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulazeez Yari, lost $669,248.89 and N24,289,910.89 to the Federal Government.

The money was lodged in Yari’s two personal accounts and the accounts operated by his companies, BT Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited and Kayatawa Nigeria Limited.

The sums of N217,388,040 and $311,872 found in a bank account belonging to BT Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited and another N11,159,674.80 and $301,319.99 kept in an account belonging to Kayatawa Nigeria Limited were also forfeited to the government

Also, the ICPC has placed under interim forfeiture 29 duplexes in different estates in Jabi, Maitama, Kaduna, Zamfara and Abuja allegedly belonging to the ex-governor, who is currently on trial for corruption.

The ICPC had accused Yari, a two-term governor, of not being truthful in his assets declaration.

It accused him of diverting Zamfara State’s funds, using some companies, including Kayatawa Nigeria Limited and B T Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited.

It alleged that on June 18, 2015, BT Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited received a transfer of N150m from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum through Yari, who was then the chairman of the forum.

Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, subsequently granted a motion by the ICPC seeking permanent forfeiture of the funds.

It could not be ascertained if Yari had appealed the forfeiture order as his lawyer, Mahmoud Magaji, could not be reached for comments on Saturday.  He did not respond to calls and he had yet to reply to an SMS sent to his mobile telephone.

The ICPC stated that its motivation for seeking the orders was because “the victim of the alleged crime is the Zamfara State Government and by extension the Federal Government of Nigeria and innocent taxpayers, which include judges of courts across Nigeria.”

Investigations by the commission revealed that most of the federal lawmakers had rechristened their constituency projects as medical outreaches because it was difficult to track the amounts spent on the exercise on account of its fluid nature and the confidentiality of medical records.

The third phase of the ICPC project tracking has monitored various zonal intervention and executive projects valued at over N114.1bn between 2019 and 2020.

The National Assembly had reportedly padded the 2021 budget with over N500bn and also inserted over 1,000 controversial projects in the budget.

President Buhari had proposed N13.08tn, but upon passage, the federal lawmakers used their legislative powers to increase the budget to N13.6tn, an increment of over N500bn.

In the 2022 budget, the lawmakers reduced the provisions for about 10,733 projects and introduced 6,576 new ones totalling N36.59bn for National Assembly’s projects in the Service-Wide Vote.

Buhari had in 2019 lamented that about N1tn had been appropriated in the last 10 years for the constituency projects of federal lawmakers without any impact.

However, the ICPC in the Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative: Phase 3 Report, said its investigations discovered that less than 50 per cent of funds for the so-called medical outreaches were expended, describing the exercise as a “cesspool of corruption.”

The commission noted that oftentimes, the projects were not executed, but pictures from previous programmes get inserted in the project files and passed off.

It also said the lawmakers often domiciled their medical outreach projects in institutions located in a different city from where the projects were meant to be executed.

It stated, “Evidently because of pressure occasioned by the CEPTi tracking exercise, some legislators have re-characterised most of their projects to what they termed: ‘medical outreach’. This is a brand of soft projects involving the provision of various healthcare interventions ranging from creating awareness on diseases and providing basic drugs to routine basic surgical interventions, which have suddenly taken the lead in project portfolios without many measurable benefits. It is difficult to track because of its soft and fluid nature and the traditional confidentiality of medical records. Analysis shows a sudden uptick in the number of such projects, particularly being sponsored by members of the lower chamber. Investigations have discovered that hardly do 50 per cent of the funds released for such projects get expended in the execution of the projects.”

The anti-graft agency found that contractors for the medical projects were carefully chosen and contracts awarded without compliance with due process.

The ICPC operatives discovered that over 20 projects were domiciled in the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Centre, Zaria, Kaduna State.

The report said only N309.7m was disbursed to the contractor for 16 of the 20 projects valued at over N1.2bn.

The commission disclosed that in some cases, the contractors were paid the entire contract sums without the required Bill of Quantity, adding that cash was paid to the Chief Executive of the NTLC, Dr Labaran Shehu, who in turn passed it to the lawmakers.

The ICPC stated, “Investigations found that contractors were deliberately and carefully chosen, and contracts awarded to them without any dint of compliance with due process and asked to reroute the monies in cash to the CEO, Dr Labaran Shehu, who in turn would pass the monies to the sponsors. In some of these cases, the contractors were paid the entire sums without a BOQ produced. The contracts were never intended to be executed in the first place. The CEO would sometimes inform the contractors that the contracts had been executed on their behalf. The contract value of 16 projects is N1,238,863,500, while the amount already disbursed to contractors amounts to N309,715,875. The said CEO and all found culpable have been cited for prosecution as appropriate.”

The ICPC spokesperson, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, said the commission was enforcing the implementation of the projects, adding, “Our operatives are ensuring that the projects are executed to the letter.”

Findings by the anti-agency also indicate that the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Development Agency is being used as a conduit to siphon public funds running to billions of naira.

It stated, “A new method of corruption being perpetrated in SMEDAN has been discovered. On all projects for the disbursement of grants, SMEDAN pays the funds through some selected microfinance banks ostensibly to disburse the funds to the beneficiaries and keep proper records. The microfinance banks take 2.5 per cent of whatever contract sums as disbursement managers, but investigations revealed that this practice is merely a conduit for corruption as the so-called managers neither disburse nor manage anything, but take 2.5 per cent for doing nothing.”

It was gathered that a microfinance bank in Katsina State was selected as the manager for the disbursement of funds to be made in Bayelsa or Nasarawa State.

The commission explained that it discovered that over 58 of such projects ran into billions of naira in SMEDAN’s 2020 budget alone.

The agency’s spokesman, Ibrahim Mohammed, could not be reached for comment on Friday as calls to his line indicated that it was unavailable. He had yet to respond to an SMS seeking his comment on the ICPC indictment as of the time of filing this story.

He said this at a public hearing on real estate organized by the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Investigation of Operations of Real Estate Developers in FCT, Abuja.

Spokesperson, ICPC, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, in a statement titled, ‘Real Estate used for Money Laundering, IFFs – ICPC Chairman,’ said Owasanoye fingered public officers, saying they use real estate developers as conduits for IFFs.

The ICPC boss was quoted as saying, “Corruption in real estate aids illicit financial flows. The real estate sector is globally recognized as attractive to IFFs largely because it is informal, unregulated and thus open to abuse, shell-companies, use of intermediaries and third parties to acquire high-value real estate with proceeds of crime and/or illicit funds.”

He further said, “Corrupt public officers use real estate investment as a vehicle for hiding ill-gotten wealth and money laundering. Public officers acquire estates in pseudo names to conceal the illegal origin of funds. This is made possible by the absence of proper documentation and registration of titles to lands and estates in the country and non-enforcement of beneficial ownership standards. The Commission has a case in which we recovered 241 houses from a public officer and another one with 60 buildings on a large expanse of land.”

Owasanoye told the Committee that the Commission has recovered monies and properties for the government through efforts to sanitise the real estate sector.

He said, “ICPC continued with an exercise started by the defunct SPIP and concluded it from which recovery of a total sum of N53,968,158,974.64 was made. The figure comprises N858,938,681,681.06 fully recovered and paid into FMBN account; N1,357,490,846.28 post-dated cheque for October 2021 and a notarized agreement to pay the sum of N51,751,729,447.30) to the FMBN”.

The ICPC boss further spoke on the need for strict government regulation of the sector, noting that irregularities bordering on forgery and cloning of land documents, double/multiple land allocations, allocations of lands without the Minister’s approval, and revocation of land titles without due process have become rampant.

The statement continued, “He observed that even the real estate developers were not spared of problems in the sector arising from high cost of home acquisition, unstable capital market, currency volatility, increased rural-to-urban migration, ineffective property protection laws, perceived multiple taxations and poor building quality. He further stressed that while some of these challenges of real estate may be tackled by legislative and executive laws and policies, others were strictly based on the interplay of economic forces. Owasanoye informed the Committee that investigation by ICPC had shown how the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) fraudulently short-changed prospective house owners.”

Owasanoye was quoted as saying, “The Commission conducted a System Study and Review of Mass Housing delivery in the FCT in 2010/2011 wherein it was discovered that members of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), who had been allocated huge plots of land for mass housing development in the FCT failed in the delivery of infrastructure to the project sites and rather resorted to offering and selling the estate plots to the highest bidder contrary to the Policy. These abuses were hardly sanctioned by FCDA. The estates end up being the exclusive preserve of the rich in society. The consequent pressure on low and middle-income earners is a push factor for public sector corruption as public servants subvert processes, policies and abuse of office for private gain in order to meet the desire for decent housing.”

He called for strict government regulation and an inclusive mass housing policy saying, “we cannot continue to pretend that all is well with sector while the economy groan and our teeming populace suffers lack of affordable housing while shylocks and criminals perpetrate their evil intents unchecked.”

The Speaker of the House of Representative, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who declared the public hearing opened, called on the government to protect prospective homeowners from fraudulent real estate developers.

The Speaker who was represented by the Majority Leader, Hon. Alhassan Ado Dogowa added that it was the responsibility of lawmakers to make good legislation to ensure that hardworking Nigerians does not lose their monies to fraudulent developers.”

Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Blessing Onyeche Onuh said that providing affordable housing was critical to the government and the people, which cannot be left unregulated.

She stated that the Committee was set up to correct the growing anomalies in the sector and stop real estate developers from taking advantage of prospective homeowners through fraudulent housing schemes.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Muhammed Bello, in his remark, noted that the government was working towards reducing the housing deficits.

He added that FCTA was collaborating with other agencies including ICPC to reposition the housing sector, which has started yielding tangible results.

Appearing before a House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee investigating the activities of estate developers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Thursday, October 28, ICPC Chairman, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye said a study they conducted between 2010 and 2011, revealed the sharp practices in the sector including massive corruption and injection of illicit funds.

Owasanoye who revealed that the agency has recovered 241 houses and 60 buildings from corrupt public officers through its investigation, added that estate developers have a habit of selling allocated lands for mass housing piecemeal to the highest bidders.

Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mohammed Bawa who was represented by a director of the agency, Daniel Esei, alleged that developers are not complying with extant laws which aggravated the sharp practices in the sector.

He accused developers of breaking the law by allowing third parties to make payments or buy houses, shortchanging the real subscribers. The EFCC Chairman noted that there is need for more stringent laws to allow the application of sanctions on developers who go against the law.

The Commission, in a two-count charge filed at the Jos Judicial Division of the High Court of Plateau State, maintained its allegations that the former SPIP head presented a fake result with a credit pass in English Literature to the University of Jos, with which he secured admission to read law.

The charge filed before Justice C. L. Dabup revealed that while Obono-Obla did not sit for the Ordinary Level, General Certificate Examination (GCE) in English Literature in 1982, he presented a result of the same GCE to the University of Jos, in 1985, containing Credit 6 from Mary Knoll College, Ogoja.

He was alleged to have committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 366 of the Penal Code Law of Plateau State. Obono-Obla entered a not guilty plea on each of the two-count when they were read to him, following which his counsel, M.A. Agara, filed an application praying the court to grant him bail on self-recognizance.

Agara had earlier filed a motion contesting the jurisdiction of the court on the matter as well as accused the prosecution of bringing a defective charge before the court and prayed the court not to allow the charge to be read to the defendant.

ICPC’s lead Counsel, Henry Emore, who opposed the motion challenging the jurisdiction of the court, submitted that the defendant was brought before the court because the offence of certificate forgery was allegedly committed in Jos where the court sits.

He however did not oppose the bail application but urged the court to admit him to bail on stringent terms.

Justice Dabup, in her ruling on the bail application, admitted Obono-Obla to bail in the sum of N1 million with one surety in like sum. She further ruled that the surety must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court and must submit an affidavit of means including a tax clearance certificate showing evidence of payment for three years. The case has been adjourned to 25th November 2021 for trial.

Kumo, a former Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank, got married to Buhari’s daughter in October 2016 in Daura, Katsina State.

The commission in a notice published on its website said Kumo was wanted alongside Tarry Rufus and Bola Ogunsola over alleged misappropriation and dispersion of national housing fund.

The notice was signed by the ICPC spokesperson, Mrs Azuka Ogugua.

It read, “The persons whose pictures appear above, Mr Tarry Rufus, Mr Gimba Yau Kumo and Mr Bola Ogunsola, are hereby declared wanted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission in connection with issues bordering on misappropriation of National Housing Funds and diversion of the sum of $65m. Anyone who has useful information on their whereabouts should report to ICPC Headquarters, Abuja, any of the ICPC State Offices or the nearest police station.”

Kumo’s tenure at FMBN was characterised by allegations of corruption.

He and three others allegedly paid themselves outrageous severance packages at the end of their tenure in October 2014.

In April, the senate committee on public accounts summoned Kumo to explain the alleged irregular award of N3 billion contract when he was still at the bank.

The agency, he added, also found over N2.5bn diverted by a deceased worker with the ministry of agriculture, noting that 18 buildings, 12 business premises and 25 plots of land, were also recovered in the ministry.

Owasanoye disclosed this in Abuja on Monday at the second National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector, which was organised in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary of the Government of the Federation.

He stated, “We observed that transfers to sub-TSA were to prevent disbursement from being monitored. Nevertheless, we discovered payments to some federal colleges for school feeding in the sum of N2.67bn during lockdown when the children are not in school, and some of the money ended up in personal accounts.”

The anti-graft agency gave the warning in a statement released today March 31st. It cautioned the public officers against inflation and padding of cost of items being procured under emergencies. It said COVID-19 should not be used as excuse for corruption in any sector of the economy.

Read the statement below

ICPC COVID-19 MANAGEMENT AND ANTI-CORRUPTION ADVISORY

As the nation reels from the effect of COVID-19, ICPC wishes to caution against increase in risky behaviour hinged on critical desire to respond to COVID-19.

From past experience, national emergencies and pandemics instigate need for proactive measures driven by local or national exigency such as the times that we are in. However, bearing in mind that the stark reality of the inadequacy and vulnerability of our health system cannot be separated from the negative effects and impact of persistent corruption in past years of the locusts, we caution against the exigency of the times resulting in further undermining the credibility and stability of Nigeria’s health system including the well being of those who operate therein and the citizens to be catered for.

Emergency response is not immune to corruption risks. As the threat to national livelihood increases, so do the vulnerabilities to dishonesty. Corrupt public and private sector individuals will again test the nation’s anti-corruption architecture and commitment to integrity. It has happened before and may happen again. We have seen corruption in past responses to –
? managing the needs of internally displaced persons;
? treatment of persons affected by natural disasters or acts of God;
? delivery of government palliatives for the poorest of the poor;
? Implementation of policies to address critical economic vulnerabilities such as assistance to SME; poverty alleviation programmes; improvement in education, promotion of agriculture etc.

These emergencies did not prick the conscience of greedy policymakers and public and private sector implementers of otherwise noble and responsive government policies not to exploit the dire situation to negative advantage. This very attitude of greed and impunity is what has consistently undermined positive outcomes from otherwise well-thought-out national response programmes and laid-out plans that covered everything except keeping corruption in implementation at bay.

Therefore, ICPC, while commending the gallant role being played by all those currently involved in responding to this pandemic wishes to remind us of corruption vulnerabilities in COVID-19 management and response.

Please take note and avoid these pitfalls-
1. Corruption risks inherent in emergency procurement;
2. Non-compliance with laid-down procedures – get necessary approvals. In emergencies approvals are not delayed;
3. Disregarding due diligence;
4. Neglecting post quarantine management and regulatory controls;
5. Ignoring financial control regulations and limits;
6. Engaging in a conflict of interest, nepotism, padding, inflated costs and other risky behaviour in the name of emergency response.

This Advisory is not finger-pointing at the health sector or its leaders and others in government and outside government who have sacrificially and admirably led our response to COVID-19 thus far. It is an opportunity for reflection and warning to all Nigerians at national and sub-national levels that it is wise to remember that keeping safe distancing from a post-pandemic corruption investigation in any sector of the economy is as important as safe social distancing to prevent COVID-19.

The noble desire of the government to ameliorate the pain of citizens in these difficult times should not be converted to another _rue de la corruption_. COVID-19 should not be used as an excuse for corruption in any sector of the economy.

Better to be safe than sorry. Responding to this or any other emergency or implementation of government policy for that matter should not increase integrity deficit or risky behaviour.

Keep your social distance from corruption.