Hours after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) re-arraigned Kwara State Governor Abdul-Fatah Ahmed over allegations of N5.78 billion fraud, statistics indicate that he is among the high-profile individuals the EFCC has brought before the courts since President Bola Tinubu appointed the agency’s head, Ola Olukoyede.
Data collected from media reports and investigations between October 18, 2023, and October 18, 2024, revealed that, in addition to Ahmed, the agency has arrested and prosecuted three other former governors and two ex-ministers—one from the power sector and another from aviation—for alleged financial misconduct.
The statistics also show that the EFCC is investigating three former ministers, Halima Shehu (the former National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme) and Jalal Arabi (the ex-chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria), for alleged fraud and related offences during their tenure in public office.
According to the data obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday, three former governors currently facing trial under the Olukoyede-led EFCC are Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, Willie Obiano of Anambra, and Darius Ishaku of Taraba State.
They are accused by the anti-graft agency of fraud and other financial improprieties.
Ishaku was apprehended alongside Bello Yero, the former permanent secretary of the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Taraba, and both were brought before Justice S.C. Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on a 15-count charge that includes criminal breach of trust, conspiracy, and conversion of public funds, amounting to N27 billion.
Meanwhile, Yahaya Bello is facing prosecution in two different courts. One case is being heard at the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja, presided over by Justice Emeka Nwite. In this case, he is being prosecuted alongside three other suspects—Ali Bello (his nephew and current Chief of Staff to Governor Usman Ododo), Dauda Suleiman, and Abdulsalam Hudu—on 19-count charges related to money laundering of over N80 billion.
In a separate case, former Governor Bello is also being prosecuted with Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu before Justice Maryanne Anenih on 16-count charges involving money laundering and criminal breach of trust worth N110.4 billion.
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Governor Ahmed, who is being prosecuted alongside former Commissioner for Finance Ademola Banu, appeared in court on Monday. They face a 12-count charge concerning money laundering and mismanagement of public funds amounting to N5.7 billion.
They were re-arraigned following the transfer of the previous trial judge, Justice Evelyn Anyadike, from the Federal High Court in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, to another division.
During the period under review, the agency arraigned former Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano, before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
He faces allegations of money laundering and diversion of funds amounting to approximately N4 billion.
For the power ministers currently under prosecution, Saleh Mamman, who served under President Muhammadu Buhari from 2019 to 2021, was brought before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja. He faces 12-count charges related to conspiracy to commit money laundering exceeding N33 billion.
Another former minister, Olu Agunloye, who served during President Obasanjo’s administration, is being prosecuted on seven counts for official corruption and the fraudulent awarding of the Mambilla Power Project contract worth $6 billion to Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd.
Additionally, the agency has arraigned Hadi Sirika, the immediate former Aviation minister, who was charged alongside his brother, Ahmed Sirika, over alleged fraud amounting to N5.8 billion during President Buhari’s administration.
While the EFCC’s legal team strives for favourable judgments in these various cases across different courts, anti-graft personnel are also completing investigations into three ministers, including the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouk. She is being investigated for her alleged involvement in the misappropriation of N37 billion during her tenure.
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Betta Edu, another former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, who previously served as the national Woman leader for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), is also under investigation by the EFCC.
Edu, who has been suspended by President Bola Tinubu, is being probed for her alleged role in the diversion of N2.2 billion of public funds meant for alleviating poverty among Nigerians.
Charles Ugwuh, who served in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and Geoffrey Ekenma are also being investigated for alleged conspiracy and fraud amounting to N3.6 billion.
The EFCC is not only targeting former governors and ministers but has also gone after Halima Shehu, the former National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme (NISP), who is under investigation for her involvement in an N44.8 billion fraud.
Furthermore, Jalal Arabi, the former head of NAHCON, was dismissed by President Bola Tinubu less than a year after his appointment due to allegations of fraud and gross misconduct during the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
He was reportedly detained by the EFCC over irregularities found in the commission’s spending, with the agency tracing 25 million Saudi Riyals (approximately N10 billion) to various private companies’ accounts both domestically and internationally.
A detailed breakdown of the funds traced by the anti-graft agency reveals that 17.8 million Saudi Riyals (around N7.5 billion) and 8.3 million Saudi Riyals (approximately N3.5 billion) were transferred to different private firms.
