Perm Sec, other N32 billion Pension Fraud Suspects Remanded to Kuje Prison

A Federal permanent secretary, two directors and three other officials have been remanded in prison custody after they were charged yesterday with criminal breach of trust in respect of N32.8 billion pension funds between 2009 and 2011.

Atiku Abubakar Kigo, who is permanent secretary in the office of the Head of Service; Ahmed Wada, a former deputy director of the Police Pension Office and now director in the Federal Ministry of Sports; and retired director at the Aviation ministry Esai Dangabar were arraigned at the Abuja High Court yesterday on a 16-count charge.

The other accused are accountants John Yakubu Yusufu and Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula, as well as Sani Habila Zira.

The six were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and they all pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Kigo was until recently at the Ministry of Niger Delta, and had served as director at the Police Pension Office, which has come under intense scrutiny in the past weeks.

It was during his stint at the PPO that he allegedly connived with the others to tamper with the police pension funds.

Justice Mohammed Bello Talba of the Abuja High Court, Gudu District, ordered for the remand of the six officials at the Kuje Prisons in Abuja, pending hearing on their bail application on April 3.

The judge also set May 28 as date for the commencement of trial.

After the charges were read to the accused and they took their plea, defense counsel Solomon Adegboyega Awomolo made oral bail applications and pleaded with the judge to remand them in EFCC custody.

Prosecution counsel Rotimi Jacobs told the court he had no objection to the bail bid but said the formal procedure should be adhered to before bail is granted.

In his ruling, Justice Talba said the EFCC was not known to be a holding facility for accused persons, and therefore ordered that the six be remanded at Kuje Prisons until their bail bid is determined.

The charges against the accused

The six officials are being accused of conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, conversion of public funds to personal use as well as receiving bribes at different times between January 2009 and December last year.

Ahmed Wada is individually being accused of collecting N18 million in bribes from Unity Bank for maintaining a police pension account with the bank between February and June 2011.

According to count 1 on the charge sheet, Kigo and the others as public officers agreed to commit an illegal act in respect of the sum of N 14.519 billion, punishable under section 97 of the Penal Code Act.

This amount was part of the Police Pension Fund in an account in First Bank allegedly diverted by the accused while they were supervising the funds.

In another count, Dangabar, Yusufu, Onyegbula and Zira allegedly tampered with N8.92 billion police pension funds kept in First Bank between January and December 2009.

A year later, between January 2010 and February 2011, Kigo replaced Dangabar in the four-person conspiracy, and they jointly accessed another sum of N4.74 billion from the pension funds.

Between February and June last year, Wada replaced Kigo and teamed up with Yusufu, Onyegbula and Zira to commit criminal breach of trust over pension funds amounting to N858 million.

On or about January 31, 2011 the six persons allegedly helped themselves to another N657 million from the pension funds.

On yet another instance, the six officials on or about March 24, 2009 allegedly committed fraud in respect of N463 million.

Also, the six are accused of fraud in respect of N407 million on December 14, 2010 and N400 million on December 30, 2010.

According to count 12 and count 15 on the charge sheet, Dangabar, Wada, Yusufu, Kigo and Onyegbula are being accused of converting N14.519 billion and another N858 million pension funds to their personal use between January 2009 and June 2011.

Again, Dangabar, Yusufu and Onyegbula were charged with fraudulently converting N8.9 billion pension funds to their personal use between January and December 2009.

Count 14 said Kigo, Yusufu and Onyegbula converted N4.7 billion public funds to their personal use between January 2010 and February 2011.

Officials face suspension from civil service

Civil service rules provide that officials facing criminal prosecution are to remain suspended from the service until they are cleared.

Asked whether this would apply to Kigo and the others, an official at the Head of Civil Service of the Federation said a formal report by the prosecuting agency is required before any action is taken.

“The normal thing is that the organisation that is prosecuting the case will do a formal report to the agency whose staff are involved. It is on the basis of that representation that action will be taken. There are laid down rules for these things,” the official said, asking not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on this matter.

“But the thing is that when an officer is charged, what happens is that the person is indicted and stops to perform duties assigned or attached to his or her office until he or she is found innocent or he or she faces the full wrath of the law if the person is guilty.”

It could not be confirmed last night if the EFCC formally reported the prosecution of the six officials to their respective government agencies.