ICPC: How El-Rufai’s Ex-Chief of Staff Laundered Over N3.5bn Forex Proceeds

The ICPC has uncovered how the former Chief of Staff to ex-Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, allegedly laundered over N3.5 billion from forex proceeds through fraudulent schemes.

On Tuesday, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) brought charges against Bashir Sa’idu, the former Chief of Staff to Nasir El-Rufai, the previous Governor of Kaduna State. The allegations involve forex racketeering and money laundering.

This represents the second series of charges filed against Sa’idu, who also held the position of Commissioner for Finance under El-Rufai’s administration.

Earlier, he appeared before the Federal High Court in Kaduna facing two charges connected to a N155 million fraud case.

In a recent development, Sa’idu was hit with a new 10-count indictment filed in the Kaduna State High Court. The ICPC charged him with illegally selling $45 million of government funds at an undervalued exchange rate of N410 per dollar, instead of using the prevailing parallel market rate of N498 per dollar, leading to substantial financial losses.

The ICPC alleged that the transaction resulted in a N3.96 billion loss for the Kaduna State Government, with prosecutors claiming it was laundered in violation of Section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

During Tuesday’s proceedings presided over by Justice Isa Aliyu, Sa’idu entered a plea of not guilty to all charges.

M.I. Abubakar, the defense attorney, requested that the court grant bail, emphasizing that the defendant had been detained for 21 days since being arrested on January 2, 2025.

On the other hand, Prof. Nasiru Aliyu, representing the prosecution, opposed the bail application by pointing out that there is a statutory seven-day period allowed for submitting a response to such requests.

Following a 40-minute recess, Justice Aliyu decided in favor of the prosecution’s request for sufficient time to prepare their response and postponed the bail hearing.

The judge postponed the proceedings to January 23, 2025, for consideration of the bail application.

Sa’idu is the fourth individual appointed by El-Rufai to face trial initiated by the ICPC.

Last Thursday, the anti-corruption agency announced plans to arraign Lawal Adebisi, former Senior Special Adviser/Counsellor to El-Rufai; Umar Waziri, the ex-Accountant General of Kaduna State; and Yusuf Inuwa, the previous Finance Commissioner.

The ICPC stated they were accused of money laundering involving N64 million.

The ICPC spokesperson, Demola Bakare, stated that in a lawsuit filed at the Federal High Court’s Kaduna Judicial Division, the commission has charged Mr. Lawal with collaborating with two other individuals to misappropriate a total of N64,800,562. This sum was allegedly diverted through three separate transactions of N10 million, N47.84 million and N7.32 million into Solar Life Nigeria Limited’s bank account where Mr. Lawal is believed to be the sole signatory.

The four defendants are scheduled to appear in court on Friday, January 17th, 2025, to enter their plea.

Last year, the Kaduna State House of Assembly accused El-Rufai’s administration of embezzling N423 billion, a charge that the former governor strongly denied.