Tag: Bribe

EFCC denies chairman received $2m bribe from Matawalle

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has denied it’s Chairman, Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa received a $2m bribe from Gov. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State.

Spokesperson for the Commission, Mr Wilson Uwujiaren made the disclosure in a statement on Saturday.

Uwujiaren said the attention of the commission was drawn to a trending interview granted to the Hausa Service of the BBC by the governor of Zamfara, where he made the bribery allegations.

According to him, Matawalle’s recourse to untrue story is symptomatic of a drowning man clutching at straws.

“Despite the irritation of his phantom claims, the commission will not be drawn into a mud fight with a suspect under its investigation for corruption and unconscionable pillage of the resources of his state.

“If Matawalle will be taken seriously, he should go beyond sabre-rattling by spilling the beans – provide concrete evidence as proof of his allegations,” he said.

Uwujiaren said the public should also be notified about plans by some of the alleged corrupt politically exposed persons to flee the country ahead of May 29.

“The commission is working in close collaboration with its international partners to frustrate these escape plans and bring those involved to justice,” he added.

May 20, 2023
Bawa chose to blackmail me over $2m bribe, I have evidence – Matawalle reveals

Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle has revealed that the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa requested a $2 million bribe from him which he rejected.

The governor noted that the anti-graft agency boss is blackmailing him for refusing his request.

Recalled that on Thursday, the anti-graft agency said that Matawalle is being investigated for allegedly diverting over N70 billion state funds.

But speaking during an interview with the BBC Hausa on Friday, Matawalle denied embezzling the state funds and also said Bawa could not be trusted.

“It is not just to always blame governors. It is not only governors who have treasury, the federal government also has. What does the EFCC boss do to them? As he is claiming he has evidence on governors, let him show to the world evidence of those at the federal level.

“If he exits office, people will surely know he is not an honest person. I have evidence against him. Let him vacate office, I am telling you within 10 seconds probably more than 200 people will bring evidences of bribe he collected from them. He knows what he requested from me but I declined.

“He requested a bribe of $2 million from me and I have evidence of this. He knows the house we met, he invited me and told me the conditions. He told me governors were going to his office but I did not. If I don’t have evidence, I won’t say this.”

“He knows what is between us, he requested a favour from me and I refused him, so he has chosen to blackmail me, but I’m not bothered.

May 19, 2023
Take bribe, get sacked – FRSC warns personnel

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has vowed to dismiss from service any of its personnel found extorting motorists or involved in any form of corrupt practices.

The Corps Public Education Officer, (CPEO) Assistant Corps Marshal (ACM) Bisi Kazeem, gave the warning in an interview with NAN on Friday in Abuja.

Kazeem was reacting to a probe of some officers of the FRSC, after a surveillance team of the agency caught them in a suspected act of extortion of commuters.

According to reports, the operatives, who were arrested in Sagamu, Ogun State, South-west Nigeria, have been recalled to face probe at the zonal headquarters of the agency in Lagos.

The tactical surveillance team of the agency made a futile attempt to arrest a civilian suspected of helping the officers to take and keep bribes.

The CPEO, who confirmed the arrest of the operatives and the ongoing probe, said that the tactical surveillance team was recently set up by the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Dauda Biu.

He said it was set up to fight bribery and extortion among officers of the agency.

“The corps marshal felt that reports concerning the issue of extortion were getting alarming and didn’t want to stop at internal mechanism.

“This necessitated the set up of the tactical surveillance team to ensure any form of bribery and corruption is curbed to the barest minimum.

“The members of the team arrested in Sagamu were recalled to the Lagos Zonal Headquarters at Ojodu-Isheri for proper investigation.

“If found culpable after investigation, they will be disciplined according to relevant sections of the Federal Road Safety Commission’s maintenance of discipline,” he said.

The FRSC spokesman warned civilians who normally conspire with FRSC teams in such nefarious and unpatriotic acts to desist henceforth or be ready to face the wrath of the law when apprehended.

Kazeem also called on the motoring public to resist the temptation of offering any kind of bribe whatsoever to FRSC patrol teams in any part of the country.

He said that culprits would be arrested and prosecuted in the court of law, so as to set a precedent that would deter other perpetrators.

May 19, 2023
How my dad bribed me to complete my degree – Davido

Popular Nigerian singer, David ‘Davido’ Adeleke has recounted how his billionaire dad, Chief Adedeji Adeleke bribed him to complete his degree program.

Davido graduated with a second-class upper degree from the Music Department of Babcock University in Osun State.

While featuring on the latest episode of the +44 Amazon Music podcast, the singer revealed that he was forced to go back to the university after initially quitting to focus on his music career.

He said, “He [my dad] said if I go to school, he has a land not far; he will build me a studio. But I should go to school from Mondays to Fridays and on weekends, work in the studio. It was a world-class studio. He will give me money to shoot some videos.”

April 18, 2023
Soldier reportedly shoots Okada man, kills nursing mother, baby over N200

A soldier has reportedly shot an Okada rider and his passenger, a nursing mother and her baby, in Babanna community in Borgu LGA of Niger State.

It was gathered that the incident happened on Monday evening when the victims were returning home from the Babanna weekly market.

The soldier according to residents fired a gunshot at the commercial motorcycle rider for refusing to pay the N200 bribe he demanded and that the bullets penetrated his stomach and hit the woman he was carrying, as well as the baby on her back.

A resident, Saidu Babanna, said, “One of the soldiers deployed in Babanna to protect lives and property shot three people because of a N200 bribe. When the victims were entering Babanna in the morning, soldiers collected N200 from them at their checking point, and when they were returning from Babanna to Nigangi in Benin Republic, the soldiers demanded another N200 from them, which they couldn’t afford to pay. That was what led to a soldier opening fire and killing the three people on a motorcycle on the spot.”

Another resident who didn’t want his name mentioned said, “The incident happened on Monday evening. The Babanna market is on Mondays. The victims were returning home from the market. When they were coming in the morning, there were many soldiers at the Benin Republic border who stopped them and collected N200 from them.

“So, when they were going back, the same soldiers stopped them again and demanded N200 again, which the Okada man refused to give. They started arguing and the Okada man kicked his motorcycle and zoomed off and a soldier also kicked another motorcycle and followed him until he overtook him.

“He then fired the gun and bullets penetrated the stomach of the motorcycle rider and hit the woman he was carrying, killing the woman and the baby instantly.”

Source: DAILY TRUST

March 22, 2023
Man arrested for offering N1m bribe to secure release of suspected kidnapper

The Police Command in Kano State said it has arrested one Bamuwa Umaru, 62, for offering N1 million as bribe to secure the release of a suspected kidnapper.

SP Abdullahi Haruna-Kiyawa, the Command Spokesman confirmed the arrest in a statement issued to newsmen in Kano on Tuesday.

“On Dec. 16, 2022, at about 2:00p.m, Bamuwa Umaru, resident of Shika town Kaduna State, approached the Officer in charge of Anti-Kidnapping Squad, State Criminal Investigation Department, Kano Command, SP Aliyu Mohammed.

“The suspect offered the sum of N1 million as bribe to secure the release of a suspected kidnapper, Yusuf Ibrahim, 27, of Danjibga village, Zamfara State,” he said.

Haruna-Kiyawa said that the suspected kidnapper was arrested by a team of Operation Restore Peace led by CSP Usman Abdullahi, DPO Rijiyar Zaki Division, Kano.

“Yusuf Ibrahim was identified by a driver they kidnapped along Funtuwa-Gusau Road, and collected the sum of N500,000 as ransom before his release.

“On preliminary investigations, Ibrahim confessed to the crime and further confessed to have participated in series of kidnapping at Sheme, Yankara, Faskari and Kucheri villages in Katsina and Zamfara States, respectively.

“Ibrahim also confessed that their syndicate killed about 10 of their kidnapped victims, and he alone killed two of the victims.

“The suspects would be charged to court upon completion of the investigation,” he said.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Mamman Dauda, commended the people of the state, security agencies, media, vigilance groups, the command’s community policing team and other stakeholders for their prayers, support, encouragement and cooperation.

He assured residents of adequate security, warning those planning to distrupt the peace to stay away, as “Kano state remains a no-go area for evil planners.”

January 25, 2023
COVID-19: Protesting contractors shut down FCTA over non-payment for PPE deliveries

Close to 200 contractors, on Monday, protested at the office of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja, blocking the major entrances over unpaid sum for the supplies of COVID-19 medical and non-medical items to the FCT Administration.

TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports the contractors claimed they executed various COVID-19 contracts for the FCT Administration between March 2020 and April 2021, without being paid, accused the FCT permanent secretary, Olusade Adesola, of being responsible for their travail.

Ewoma Micheal and Dan Dayo, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, said Adesola has been paying some of the contractors, especially those who had agreed to receive part payments at the detriment of other contractors.

They lamented that some of them contracted the virus while supplying the various medical equipment and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and other items used in containing the pandemic in the FCT.

What we heard initially was that procurement process was suspended and this money was supposed to have been paid within two weeks, maximum one month, of supply. Some of us took loans to be able to meet up with the supply,” Dayo said.

Also, Nelcy Mokwenye and Emmanuel Nwachendu, two of the contractors accused the FCTA of demanding N1 million bribe before they would be paid.

They stressed that there is no justification for the delay of their payments one year after supplying the items, noting that it was stated in the agreement signed with the authorities that they would be paid two weeks after the supply, once they submit their invoices.

This is one year running nothing, what we are hearing is that each of the contractors has to pay N1 million bribe to the Permanent Secretary before we can be paid. That without the N1 million bribe, you won’t get paid,” Nwachendu said.

However, Adesola denied asking any of the contractors to pay bribe.

He said that the delay in the payment of the contractors was due to their failure to meet all the administrative requirements.

“I am not aware of any payment of N1m. The only instruction I gave was that all documents should be in a file before any payment can be made. The payment is in batches, we have paid others. Contractors below N10m have been paid, if there are issues, the contractors are the cause because they are yet to meet up with the requirements,” Olusade said.

END

October 17, 2022
President Buhari awards police officer for returning $200,000 bribe

Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, has presented a Public Service Integrity Award to a police officer, Daniel Amah, for returning $200,000 bribe.

Amah was said to have displayed exceptional courage and integrity in the discharge of his duties.

The Plateau indigene received the award by President Buhari in Abuja at the 4th National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the public sector with the theme, “Corruption and the Education Sector.

Amah, a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Bompai Kano, rejected $200, 000 bribe to sweep under the carpet a case involving Ali Zaki a bureau de change operator who connived with other criminally minded individuals to rob a Nigerian (name withheld) to the tune of $750,000.

TheNewsGuru.com reports that Amah, who handled the case, rejected $200,000 bribe to kill the case and brought the suspect to book.

In his remarks, Buhari congratulated the awardee for his outstanding behaviour and used the medium to call on other Nigerians holding public offices to emulate the gesture, emphasizing that “We need to kill corruption for Nigeria to move forward.”

In August, Inspector-General of Police Usman Baba in a letter of commendation to Amah noted that the professional attitude displayed by the DPO led to the arrest of the suspected armed robbery syndicate in Kano.

Meanwhile, the Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the dismissal of seven senior Police Officers over gross misconduct.

PSC also approved the reduction in the ranks of 10 other officers.

The decisions were taken at the ongoing 15th Plenary Meeting of the Commission, which is expected to end on Thursday.

A statement on Tuesday by the PSC, Head, Press and Public Relations, Ikechukwu Ani, said a Superintendent of Police (SP) was also retired in the public interest.

The Commission’s Plenary Meeting presided over by Justice Clara Bata Ogunbiyi, JSC (rtd) considered all the Pending Disciplinary Matters (PDM) before the Commission totaling 47 and treated some appeals from dismissed Police Officers.

The Commission reduced the ranks of one Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) to Superintendent of Police (SP), three Superintendents of Police (SP) to Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP), and two Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP) to Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASP).

October 4, 2022
$92.39m bribe: Former minister gets death sentence

Sun Lijun, former vice minister of public security, was on Friday sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes, manipulating the stock market, and illegally possessing firearms.

Sun was also deprived of his political rights for life, and all his personal assets were confiscated, said the Intermediate People’s Court of Changchun in northeast China’s Jilin Province.

The court established that Sun received money and valuables totaling more than 646 million yuan (92.39 million U.S. dollars) by taking advantage of various positions he held between 2001 and April 2020.

The court also found that Sun manipulated stock trading in the first half of 2018, helping some other people avoid a loss of 145 million yuan.

Sun also illegally possessed two guns, the court added.

The sum of bribes Sun had taken was specially huge, and his crimes caused a specially heavy loss to the interests of the state and people, said the court.

It added that the circumstance of his crime in manipulating the stock market was particularly serious, and that in illegally possessing firearms was serious.

The court said that Sun was granted a lenient sentence, considering that he had provided investigators with clues to other major cases, contributing to a major meritorious service for the investigation.

It said he had also confessed to all of his crimes, including some acts of bribe-taking that investigators were not initially aware of.

It added that he had shown repentance and had been cooperative in returning his illegal gains.

After the two-year reprieve for his death sentence, Sun’s sentence can be commuted to life in prison in accordance with the law, but no further reduction or parole shall be given to him, the court said.

September 23, 2022
BREAKING: Former first lady sentenced to 10 years in jail for graft

Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Najib Razak, former Prime Minister of Malaysia has been sentenced to ten years in prison for seeking and receiving bribes in exchange for government contracts.

The judgement by a Malaysian court on Thursday came just days after her husband was jailed for corruption.

Rosmah Mansor and Najib Razak, have been the focus of multiple graft investigations since Najib’s surprise election defeat in 2018 when voters’ anger over a separate, multi-billion-dollar corruption scandal ended his nine years in power.

A flamboyant figure by Najib’s side, Rosmah was widely scorned in Malaysia for her extravagant lifestyle and penchant for Hermes Birkin bags, and faced repeated questions over her influence in government matters.

The former first lady of Malaysia will also have to pay a fine of 970 million ringgit ($216.45 million), a record amount in Malaysia’s history over three bribery charges, Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan said, adding that the prosecution proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

She will remain free on bail pending appeals to higher courts.

Rosmah, dressed in a yellow baju kurung a traditional Malaysian long blouse and skirt and matching headscarf, addressed the judge tearfully immediately after the verdict.

“I must admit that I’m very sad with what happened today. Nobody saw me taking the money, nobody saw me counting the money but if that’s the conclusion, I leave it to God.”

Her lawyers had asked for a one-day jail sentence, while prosecutors sought “maximum or near maximum.”

Rosmah, 70, had pleaded not guilty to the three charges of soliciting and receiving bribes between 2016 and 2017 to help a company secure a 279 million dollars’ solar power supply project from Najib’s government.

Prosecutors said Rosmah sought a bribe of 187.5 million ringgit ($41.80 million), and received 6.5 million ringgit from an official of the company that won the project.

Rosmah has argued that she was framed by her former aide as well as several government and company officials involved in the project.

She also faces 17 charges of money laundering and tax evasion in a separate case.

September 1, 2022