In connection with an alleged N1,066,000,000,000 energy project oversight scam, four employees of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) will be charged by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC).
This is included in the charge sheets that the ICPC filed with the Federal High Court in Abuja on May 9, 2024, through the Assistant Chief Legal Officer of the ICPC, Dr. Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha.
Under the false pretense of project monitoring on behalf of the rural electrification agency, the defendants, Umar Karaye, Usman Kwakwa, Emmanuel Titus, and Hannah Okojie, are sued for allegedly collecting different sums in separate tranches through their respective bank accounts.
Karaye, Kwakwa, Titus and Okojie were accused of illegally possessing N165,000,000, N298,000,000, N261,000,000, and N342,000,000.00, respectively, totalling N1,066,000,000.
In the charge sheets obtained by Nairametrics on Friday, the anti-graft agency alleged the defendants committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
Read Also: ICPC Clamps Down On Internal Corruption, Warns Staff
The Advance Fee Fraud prescribes seven years imprisonment for anyone convicted of obtaining property by false pretence especially when there is proven intent to defraud an institution, company or individual.
Furthermore, the ICPC alleged that the action of the defendants is “contributing to the economic adversity of the Rural Electrification Agency and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 68 of the Public Enterprise Regulatory Commission Act, CAP. P39, Laws of the Federation, 2004.”
THE MATRIX gathered that the defendants will be arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite on 6th June 2024.
The REA is the implementing agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria responsible for the electrification of rural and unserved communities.
The case came after the ICPC announced in 2023 that its operatives had commenced an investigation into alleged fraud, criminal conspiracy, and diversion of public funds in the REA.
Read Also: ICPC: Senate Endorses Aliyu For Top Job
THE MATRIX previously reported that apart from the ICPC, the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-corruption had also invited the Managing Director of REA, Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, to appear before it over alleged fraud allegations in the agency.
The investigations followed a petition of alleged gross misconduct and fraud by the Centre Against Injustice and Domestic Violence (CAIDOV).
In March this year, President Bola Tinubu approved the indefinite suspension of the Managing Director/CEO of the REA, Ahmad, alongside three Executive Directors of the agency, from office, following findings during a comprehensive investigation into the financial activities of the REA.
The ICPC also plans to arraign a staff member of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Abubakar Abdullahi Sambo, for allegedly paying N1.835 billion for an unauthorized project supervision exercise.
The defendants are presumed innocent in the eyes of the law until proven guilty.
