An operator at bureau de change, Salisu Umaru has disclosed to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that a huge sum of N1.5billion was wired to his account Ex-Minister of finance’s son.
He said he was unaware of what the money was used for. The cash is believed to be part of the $2.1 billion “phoney” arms deals funds. The former minister and his son were not named “so as not to jeopardise the investigation”.
He said : “I was invited by EFCC and when I reported, I was shown my company’s account statement with Zenith Bank called Jabama Ada Global Nigeria Limited in which there was an inflow of N500million on 5/2/2015 and N1billion on 16/4/2015 into the account from the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Also at the weekend, it was learnt that the army has replaced one of its officers under probe for the phoney arms deals, Col. Nicholas Ashinze, with Col. M.A. Abdullahi as the nation’s military attaché to Germany.
“On the inflow of N500million into my company’s account on 5/2/2015, I wish to state as follows : That on the same date(5/2/2015), I paid the equivalent of US$2,380,952 to the son of the minister, being the equivalent of the said N500million at the rate of N210 per dollar.
Col. Ashinze is to refund N7.3million, which was paid to him as estacode and air fares.
Salisu, who gave the EFCC details of how the N1.5billion was wired into his company’s account, said he never knew what the cash from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) was meant for.