The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested Dr. Ngozi Olejeme, the Deputy Chairman, Finance Committee of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation in the 2015 presidential election.
Olejeme, who served as chairman of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) from 2009 to 2015, was in June declared wanted for allegedly diverting N69bn from the agency.
The widow to Felix Obuah, late Chief Security Officer to Jonathan, fled the country after she was sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
Olejeme, who was also the convener of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme sub-committee on Public Works and Road Rehabilitation, finally reported at the EFCC on Monday after which she was detained.
A detective at the commission told PUNCH, “After months of running, Mrs. Olejeme finally turned herself in. She is currently being detained and we have identified most of her properties.”
Olejeme and some directors in the NSITF allegedly diverted billions of naira, including funds meant for the payment of allowances of its staff as well as compensation for contributors.
Trouble started for Olejeme shortly after her sacking by Buhari in 2015.
The EFCC subsequently received a petition alleging that over N50bn from the Employee Compensation Scheme fund, paid by ministries, departments and agencies and private companies, as well as another N18bn being the contributions of the Federal Government as take-off grants to the NSITF, was allegedly mismanaged and diverted into the personal accounts of Olejeme and Umar Abubakar, the Managing Director of the NSITF.
The EFCC immediately set up a team of detectives to look into the allegations.
The commission looked into the bank accounts of the NSITF and allegedly discovered suspicious transactions and diversion of funds.
Some funds were said to have been traced to the accounts of some consultants and contractors who were alleged to be mainly fronts for Olejeme and other directors in the NSITF.
Several directors and contractors were invited to explain their own side of the story, many of whom have since returned funds to the EFCC.
An EFCC report, made available to PUNCH, reads in part, “It was discovered that the NSITF accounts in First Bank of Nigeria and other banks have witnessed a total turnover of over N62,358,401,927 between 2012 and 2015 from the Employee Compensation Scheme contributions.
“That out of the N62bn, the Federal Government contributed N13,600,000,000 while the sum of N48,758,401,927.80 was contributed by the private sector. That there were several payments to individuals and companies from the NSITF bank accounts for purported contracts or consultancy services.
“That some individuals and companies that received these payments in turn transferred parts of the funds directly to the NSITF officials while others transferred huge sums to bureau de change operators who changed them to dollars.”
The report adds that Olejeme sent her account officer at First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) to collect $48m from some NSITF contractors through a BDC operator.
It adds, “That through this process, Dr. Ngozi Olejeme, the then NSITF board chairman, has collected a total sum of $48,485,127 from Mr. Chuka Eze (her account officer at FBN) which cash he collected on her behalf being the dollar equivalent of money paid to BDCs by NSITF contractors.”
The EFCC had, on November 23, 2017, arraigned some of Olejeme’s accomplices, including Umar Abubakar, Henry Sambo, Adebayo Aderibigbe, Chief Richard Uche and Aderemi Adegboyega, before Justice Silvanus Orji of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, sitting in Apo, Abuja, on 26 counts bordering on conspiracy, abuse of office and illegal diversion of public funds.
They all pleaded not guilty to the offences and were granted bail. The matter was adjourned till February 5, 2018 for the commencement of trial.
