NEWSFLASH| EFCC Arrests former Governor of Adamawa State, Mr. James Ngilari

The The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested a former governor of Adamawa State, Mr. James Ngilari, for his alleged role in the sharing of N450m in his state during the build-up to the 2015 presidential election.

The money was said to be part of the $115m (N23bn) which was allegedly distributed by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

The EFCC had last week arrested the PDP chairman in Adamawa State, Joel Madaki, over the Diezani fund.

The chairman was said to have told investigators that the money was handed over to Ngilari who was the governor at the time.

A source at the commission, however, told our correspondent that Ngilari had denied receiving the N450m from Madaki.

The detective said, “Ngilari is being grilled at our Gombe office. He denied authorising his former aides to take custody of the funds. We have obtained a detention order and he will spend the night in custody.”

The EFCC also grilled a former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Hassan Adamu, for his alleged role in the sharing of the Diezani bribe.

It was learnt that Adamu, who was once Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, arrived at the office of the commission around 9.30 am, and was grilled for several hours before he was allowed to return home.

Adamu was abroad when his name appeared as a co-signatory to the collection of the share of Adamawa State.

An EFCC source said, “He (Adamu) admitted his involvement at that level but said that the money was taken to the government house in a bullion van by officials of Fidelity Bank.

“The ambassador added that the chief of staff to Ngilari, one Alhaji Hamman, and the accountant to the Adamawa State Government House, Mrs. Aisha Waziri, counted the money and confirmed the figure. The duo became custodians of the funds based on the directive of their boss, the governor.

“He said he left at that point and did not know how the money was shared neither did he personally benefit from it. Adamu promised to appear at the commission whenever he was in the country to explain his role.”