The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is set to arraign immediate past Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, for allegedly defrauding 676, 675 applicants of N676,675,000 (Six Hundred and Seventy Six Million, Six Hundred and Seventy Five Thousand Naira) during the 2014 Nigeria Immigration Service recruitment during which about 20 job seekers lost their lives.
EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement on Tuesday that a breakdown of the money implied that N1,000 was allegedly extorted from each applicant through e-payment for the online application.
Moro is to be docked on an 11-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence, procurement fraud and money laundering along with Anastasia Daniel Nwobia, F O Alayebami, Mahmood Ahmadu (at large) and Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd.
The EFCC statements reads: “The accused are alleged to have contravened the Public Procurement Act, No. 65 of 2007 in the contract awards by not following the necessary procedure laid down by the government. The award of the contract to Drexel Tech Nig Ltd had no prior advertisement, no needs assessment and a procurement plan was not carried out before award of the contract.
“The contract was awarded through selective tendering procedure by invitation of four firms without seeking approval of 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 Tech Global Nigeria Limited, the company that provided the online enlistment and recruitment services, is said 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.
“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; part of the N676,675,000, gotten from the applicants on the following: the sum N202, 500, 000, in purchase of a property in a choice area of the federal capital territory; N120, 100,000, used in upgrading a property in Abuja, while the total of N101, 200, 000 was converted to United states dollars for personal use.”
Moro was arrested by EFCC operatives on Monday and may be arraigned with his co-accused on Wednesday.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works and Housing, Abubakar Magaji, was not arrested contrary to earlier report.
