Tag: Jimi Lawal

As part of the ongoing probe of the failed N11billion light rail project in Kaduna State, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) yesterday detained Mr. Jimi Lawal, a former Special Adviser/ Senior Counselor to ex-Governor Nasir el-Rufai.

Also, the commission has asked Lawal to deposit his international passport with the commission until the ongoing investigation is completed.

But  Lawal, who was grilled for hours yesterday by a team of investigators, has not been able to meet bail conditions as at 7pm on Wednesday.

 Lawal was said to have  arrived at the ICPC headquarters at about 10am but he was taken to the interrogation room at 11am where many allegations were isolated for him to respond to.

A  source in ICPC said: “For about five hours, our team interacted with Jimi Lawal on the N11billion light rail project and other allegations which he needed to respond to. This is the first leg of his interaction with our team.

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“So far, he has given us brief on some of the issues raised. He has more questions to answer. We will move to the next level on allegations with documents, official directives attributed  to him and the profiling of his account(s) and assets.

“We have served him bail terms including the deposit of his international passport and getting reliable sureties. When he could not meet the bail conditions, we have no option than to detain him.

“Lawal remains on the watch-list of the Department of State Service and the Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) . We want to restrict his movement to the country pending the conclusion of our investigation.”

But Lawal said there was no need for the watch list because he was never on the run.

He asked ICPC to explain  why a public officer without budget will account for a contract of N11billion.

He alleged that the “investigation“ by ICPC  is malicious and politically-motivated.

In a statement through his Media Office, Lawal said: “It is clear from the foregoing facts that this so-called investigation is malicious and politically-motivated. It is the reason orchestrated media reports are being churned out to smear Lawal’s image in the eyes of right-thinking members of the public even before he is heard. Otherwise, how does N144 million allegedly traced to his account from some private companies translate to N11 billion?

“As a Senior Counselor and Chairman, Kaduna State Economic Development Council, Lawal had no budget and authority to approve contracts. So, all the noise about N11 billion light rail project is nothing but hot air.

“No matter how fast and far lies go, the truth will catch up with it. Our faith in the country and the judiciary remains unshaken. We sure will have our day at the appropriate time and fora.”

A former Special Adviser to immediate past Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has been summoned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

Mr. Jimi Lawal was invited over an alleged phoney Light Rail Project valued at N11 billion.

It was learnt that there was no contract file for the implementation of the purported light rail but it was allegedly paid for in full.

Although Lawal was scheduled to appear before ICPC team of investigators yesterday, he failed to show up and he was not represented.

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The anti-graft agency, it was learnt, requested the Department of State Service (DSS) and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to place the former adviser on watch-list at airports, seaports and land borders.

According to the commission, Lawal is being probed in connection with “loans (foreign and domestic) obtained without following due process.”

The commission said it had discovered that his account domiciled with a major bank revealed a total sum of N144 million receipts from four private companies.

A copy of the ICPC’s letter to DSS and NIS reads: “The above mentioned person (Lawal Shakiru Olujimi Adebisi), who hails from Ogun State and speaks Yoruba and English fluently, is being investigated for the offence of criminal conspiracy.

“Credible information at the commission’s disposal suggests that the suspect, who is under investigation, is most likely to flee the country to evade being prosecuted.

“You are therefore, kindly requested to place him on the watch-list and arrest him if seen in any of the airports, seaports or land border and inform this commission accordingly.”

Twenty top officials and the Managing Director of a company have also been invited by ICPC over $350 million loans meant for rehabilitation of schools and strategic infrastructure.

The affected invitees will undergo interrogation from August 13 to August 16.

 They are the Project Coordinator, Kaduna State Transportation Programme, Mariam Sani Dangaji; Project Accountant, Kaduna State Transportation Programme, Nicolas Hassan Samuel; Project Accountant AGILE, Sani Nalado; Project Coordinator, Kaduna State Reaching Out-of-School Children (ROOSC); Project Accountant, ROOSC Abdulhadi Muhammed Suleiman; Project Coordinator, Agro Processing Productivity Enhancement and livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS), Yahaya Aminu and Project Accountant APPEALS, Nasiru Dahiru.

Others are Project Coordinator, Kaduna State Special Agro Processing Zones (SAPZ), Abbas Sani and SAPZ Accountant, D. Mark Anthony Chunbi; Project Coordinator Kaduna State Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (LPRES), Shittu Salisu and LPRES Accountant, F. Ahmed Suleiman; Project Coordinator, Kaduna State Rural Access and Agricultural marketing Project (RAAMP), Zubairu Abubakar and RAAMP Project Accountant, Mercy Emanuel Toro.

 Those on the list include: Project Coordinator, Kaduna State Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and hygiene Project (SURWASH), Esau Ambinjah and SURWASH Project Accountant, Tukur Umar Ibrahim; Project Coordinator, Kaduna State Immunisation Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Promoting Service (IMPACT), Usman Garba and IMPACT Project Accountant, Idriss Haliru Makama; Project Coordinator, Kaduna State Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria(ANRiN), Dr. Zainab Kwaru Muhammad and ANRiN Accountant, Dr. Habibu Muhammad Lawan; the Project Coordinator, Kaduna State Agro-climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscape (ACReSAL) Jibrin Dahiru Rufai and ACReSAL Accountant, Ibrahim Tukur Umar; and the Managing Director-CHAMBERLAYNE LIMITED.

An ICPC source said: “We received many petitions on the administration of el-Rufai. All the petitions were fully endorsed to prove that they were not frivolous. Some of the petitions were even sent through law firms.

  “We have conducted preliminary investigation and it has become necessary to interrogate these people base on our findings.”

The latest has been described as a new twist in the ongoing probe of the administration of El-Rufai in Kaduna State.

In June, the ad-Hoc Committee of the Kaduna House of Assembly allegedly uncovered that about N423,115,028,072.88 was siphoned from the coffers of the state government from May 29, 2015 to May 29, 2023.

It also allegedly spotted cumulative withdrawal of $1.4 million from the Kaduna State Economic Transformation Account.

The committee requested eight people and companies to refund N19, 239,511,099.76

It also directed 15 contractors to refund N36, 351,126,811.65 as “being monies paid for work either not done, overpayment or diversion”.

The panel said that although, the value of contracts awarded from 1999 to 2023 by El-Rufai’s administration was N510,407,166,975.39, it only paid N198,921,880,169.04 to contractors.

But El-Rufai denied all allegations. He also alleged that the House of Assembly did not give him a fear hearing.

He has gone to court to challenge the report.