First Bank Director, Minister in EFCC Custody over $115m Diezani Election Fund
Former Minister of Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda and an Executive Director with First Bank, Mr. Dauda Lawal, have joined the queue of persons being investigated and now under the custody of the EFCC over their alleged involvement in the $115m election cash said to have been distributed by Fidelity Bank Plc at the behest of a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The EFCC said in a statement that the ex-minister, who is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, allegedly diverted N450m out of the money allegedly meant for the bribery of election officials to influence the outcome of the 2015 presidential election.
Yuguda in his statement had admitted collecting a total of N450m in his capacity as a senior executive of the PDP chieftain in his state (Bauchi).
Yuguda is also under scrutiny by the EFCC for allegedly receiving N1.5bn from the former NSA’s office through an unnamed company. He was also alleged to have received N1.275bn from Stallion Group during the campaign for the last general election.
Meantime, an Executive Director of First Bank, Mr.Lawal still in the custody of the EFCC to explain the role of the bank in the disbursement of the funds from the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Allison-Madueke.