Lawmaker surrenders after being declared wanted for alleged N73.6 million fraud

A serving member of the Plateau State House of Assembly Adamu Aliyu has surrendered himself days after Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court declared him wanted at the request of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over alleged fraud.

Penpushing reports that Aliyu surrendered himself at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday, and as at the time of filing this report is currently being interrogated by operatives of the commission.

The judge issued the order after investigators told the court that the lawmaker had consistently ignored invitations to answer questions on fraud allegations, while the court filings, of the case began with a petition by Mohammed Jidda, a businessman who accused Aliyu of swindling him under the guise of facilitating a Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) contract at the University of Jos worth N850 million.

Penpushing further reports that Aliyu, who represents Jos North-North constituency, allegedly entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jidda, under which the businessman was to pay about N73.6 million should he be awarded the contract.

The payment included N52 million to be paid to a company, Imanal Concept Limited, purportedly as a facilitation fee, while findings showed that the lawmaker later presented Jidda with what turned out to be a forged contract award letter from the University of Jos for the construction of an indoor sports hall valued at N500 million.

Penpushing also reports that following the fake award letter, Jidda ignorantly transferred the agreed sum into two bank accounts provided by the lawmaker: the lawmaker’s personal account at Guaranty Trust Bank and another belonging to Imanal Concept Ltd at Zenith Bank.

The victim later approached the University of Jos to begin contract documentation, and to his dismay the institution denied issuing such a contract, while the institution later confirmed in writing to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) that the award letter was a forgery.

Penpushing reports that bank records obtained by the commission show that N47.8 million was paid into  Aliyu’s personal account, N22.4 million went into Imanal Concept Ltd’s Zenith Bank account, while an additional N3.2 million was transferred directly to the lawmaker.

The lawmaker, despite repeated invitations, including messages routed through the Clerk of the Plateau Assembly and even his WhatsApp line, allegedly failed to present himself to investigators until he was declared wanted.

Penpushing further reports that the  Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)  equally  told the court it had credible intelligence that the lawmaker was planning to flee Nigeria to evade prosecution.

The lawmaker in his defence when contacted denied the allegations, explaining that he was unaware of the commission’s summons until he was informed by the Clerk of the Assembly while he was on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Penpushing also reports that Aliyu insisted he did not defraud Jidda, arguing that he had refunded N45 million of the money he received to the businessman’s company, Mohiba Investment Ltd.

The lawmaker in same vein, denied forging the contract letter, blaming it on his associate, who he said was the facilitator of the contract, explaining that his role was limited to passing the document along to Jidda.

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