A former Minister of Finance and Director of Finance for the Goodluck Jonathan Presidential Campaign Organisation, Mrs Nenadi Usman has explained how she shared N23 billion among states in the Northeast of Nigeria.
Mrs Usman told Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detectives that former Petroleum Resources Minister Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke gave her the list of beneficiary states.
She said she shared N1.850 billion to party stalwarts in Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba states through Senator Babayo Garba (Bauchi), Senator Saidu Umar Kumo(Gombe), former Governor James Ngilari (Adamawa), former acting Governor Sani Abubakar Danladi and Senator Joel Ikenya (Taraba).
A top source at the EFCC who spoke in confidence, said:
“Following fresh facts, ex-Minister Usman was invited to Gombe Zonal office of the EFCC on Monday for interrogation on the billions of naira that were shared to all the states in the Northeast through her for the re-election of the former President Goodluck Jonathan.
We decided to grill her at the zonal office as part of the final lap of our investigation on the disbursement of the slush funds in the Northeast and arraignment of suspects with prima facie cases.
Mrs. Usman told the EFCC during interrogation that she met the former Petroleum Minister Mrs. Alison Madueke who gave her a paper containing a specific amount of money to be given to each state of the federation and directed her as the director of finance in the build up to 2015 presidential election to contact and send all the representatives of every state to go to the Fidelity Bank and collect the campaign slush funds so as to deliver the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) across the country.
The former finance director Usman told the zonal office of the commission that Bauchi State got N500 million through Senator Garba; Gombe State, N450 million through Senator Kumo; Adamawa State N450 million through former Governor Ngilari; Taraba State, N450 million through the former acting Governor Danladi and Senator Ikenya.
Nenadi Usman admitted to the EFCC that she did not know the source of the fund as she claimed that Madueke collected the paper that contained the details of the amount.
But she said she had reported to the head office of the EFCC in Abuja and Kano, Lagos and Gombe zonal offices of the commission to clarify how the multi-billion naira campaign bribe money was shared to the big wigs of the PDP across the country.
The suspect has been granted administrative bail by the Gombe zonal office of the commission pending the full investigation of the matter.”
