EFCC Finds N2.5B In Former Aviation Minister Stella Oduah’s Housemaid’s Account
Agents of the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have discovered the sum of N2.5
billion in a bank account opened in the name of a housemaid to former
Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, who is now a senator representing
Anambra State in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Two
senior EFCC sources told Sahara reporters correspondent that the bank
account and its huge deposits had been opened and operated without the
knowledge of the former minister’s housemaid. “Senator Oduah apparently
opened the account with her housemaid’s name, image, and details without
the housemaid knowing about it,” said one EFCC agent familiar with the
scandal.
Another
EFCC source told SaharaReporters that Ms. Oduah had been going around
to some top officials of the Muhammadu Buhari administration seeking
their help to scuttle her impending trial. Last week, she asked for a
meeting with EFCC chairman Ibrahim Magu, claiming she wanted to meet in
her official capacity as a senator.
The two
EFCC sources who briefed SR correspondent on the “housemaid” account
disclosed that Ms. Oduah was the sole signatory to the account, adding
that they were still connecting the dots to uncover how the ex-Aviation
Minister managed to pull off such a money laundering operation.
“As of
last week, the account was still active and contained over N2.5
billion,” said one EFCC source. He added that he could not ascertain
whether the EFCC chairman, who is currently traveling in Saudi Arabia
for lesser hajj, had ordered the freezing of the account.
One of
SR's EFCC sources revealed that the discovery of the “maid” account
meant that the former minister must have stolen as much as N5.6 billion
so far from the Aviation Ministry’s funds during her ministerial term.
SaharaReporters
had revealed in earlier reports that EFCC investigators had so far
determined that Ms. Oduah split N3.6 billion that she acquired illegally
among eight companies.
In
August 2015, Ms. Oduah filed an application at a Federal High Court to
stop the EFCC from investigating allegations that she bought two
ostensibly bulletproof BMW cars at $1.6 million, or $800,000 apiece. A
controversial judge, Justice Mohammed Yunusa, initially granted the
order sought by Senator Oduah. However, in February 2016, after Justice
Yunusa was transferred out of Lagos, another federal high court judge
vacated the order, permitting the EFCC to carry on with its
investigation.
SaharaReporters
had broken the report about the BMW scam during Ms. Oduah’s ministerial
tenure. Several BMW dealers in Europe and North America told sahara
reporters that what the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) paid
for the two BMW cars far exceeded the price ranges for such bulletproof
automobiles.
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