The Nigeria former Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, will be in court on Monday, 29th February, 2016 on an 11-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence, procurement fraud and money laundering before Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is prosecuting him along with others to be charged for their roles in the botched March 15, 2014 immigration recruitment exercise that killed no fewer than 20 job seekers across the country. The other persons are the Permanent Secretary of the ministry at the time, Anastasia Daniel-Nwobia; a deputy director in the ministry, F. O Alayebami; one Mahmood Ahmadu(at large), and the contracting firm given the recruitment job, Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd.
The EFCC accused the defendants of defrauding 676,675 Nigerian applicants of N676,675,000 (Six Hundred and Seventy Six Million, Six Hundred and Seventy Five Thousand Naira).
Each of the 676,675 applicants were charged N1,000 each for the participating in the recruitment exercise.
The anti-graft agency is also accusing the defendants of flouting the Public Procurement Act, No. 65 of 2007 in the award of the contract for the organisation of the recruitment test to Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd.
The EFCC alleged that Drexel EFCC had no prior advertisement and no needs assessment and procurement plan was carried out before the contract was awarded.
According to the anti-graft agency, the contract was awarded through selective tendering procedure by invitation of 4 (Four) firms without seeking the approval of the Bureau for Public Procurement, contrary to sections 40, 42 and 43 of the Public Procurement Act, No. 65 of 2007 and punishable under section 58 of the same act.
Drexel is also alleged to be unregistered and had no legal capacity to enter into the said contract.
There is also said to be no budgetary provision for the exercise in the 2014 Federal Capital budget hence the applicants were made to bear the responsibility of funding the project without approval of the Board contrary to section 22(5) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act 2000, the charge said.
The court document reads: "One of the accused Mahmood Ahmadu(who is at large) in connivance with Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd, lavished the total of N423,800,000.00(Four Hundred and Twenty Three Million, Eight Hundred Thousand naira) part of the N676,675,000 (Six Hundred and Seventy Six Million, Six Hundred and Seventy Five Thousand Naira) gotten from the applicants on the following: the sum N202, 500, 000( Two Hundred and Two Million Five Hundred Thousand naira ) in purchase of a property in a choice area of the Federal Capital territory, N120, 100,000 (One Hundred and twenty Million One hundred Thousand Naira ) used in upgrading a property in Abuja, while the total of N101, 200, 000( One Hundred and One Million Two Hundred thousand Naira) was converted to United states dollars for personal use."
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