- from Taiwo Adisa with agency reports -
THE National Assembly committees on pension have been named as part of the beneficiaries of the pension scam that is growing in dimension and revelation, according to the statements written by some of the arrested suspects before the investigators of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
A former Director of Police Pension Fund, Chief Esai Dangabar, who is standing trial along with five others for complicity in the N32.8 billion police pension fraud, continued to spill the beans on how several billions of naira meant for retired police officers was shared illegally among top government functionaries, including the National Assembly committees in charge of pension.
In his statement to the EFCC, dated February 14, 2012, Dangabar said part of N8.9 billion withdrawn between January 5, 2009 and December 23, 2009 was used to settle members of the Police Pension committees of the National Assembly to get the police pension fund’s budget passed by the lawmakers.
Dangabar and another suspect in the scam, John Yusuf Yakubu, who was the pension fund’s accountant, also listed as beneficiaries of the fraud certain people in the Auditor-General’s office, the Accountant-General’s office and the National Assembly.
Dangabar’s statement reads in part: “I was shown summary of cheques withdrawal, dated between 5th January 2009 and 23rd December 2009 totalling N8,920,371,822.24.
“The said sums of money mentioned above were used for the payment of police retirees.
“However, some amounts were also used for public relations to members of the Police Pension Committee of the National Assembly.
“The public relations monies were made as condition precedent before the budgets of the office were passed.”
In another statement he made on February 16, 2012, Dangabar also listed beneficiaries of some of the pension fund to include some persons in the offices of the Accountant-General and Auditor-General of the Federation.
“I was shown a copy of Yusuf Yakubu’s statement of February 14, 2012, where he mentioned various beneficiaries to the funds released to police pensions: namely National Assembly, Accountant-General Office, Auditor-General Office, but all through, when I was in office as director, I could not remember anything given to the Force Headquarters,” he said.
Others standing trial with Dangabar were the immediate past permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Niger Delta, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar Kigo; Alhaji Ahmed Inuwa Wada; John Yakuku Yusufu; Mrs Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula and Alhaji Habila Zira.
However, Senate spokesman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, on Wednesday, said the National Assembly would not accept any attempt to blackmail in by any of the suspects in the ongoing Pension fund scam.
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Senators,reps share 9.8b police pension fund, tells you that the dishonourable are individually and collectively the most corrupt group in the country that they even steals from the police who we call the embodiment of corruption goes a long way to tell us that they come to loot,kill and destroy. According to one dishonourable who told me in confidence if nigerians know the height of stealing going on in both house we will all march there and tear it down.
So help us God!
@Tymos NASS are most corrupt,they are the main cause of it, they allowed this people to go away when they have collected theirs. Look at them (NASS) probing every angle of Nigerian economy. How can you tell dog to guard and protect bone? Do theif probe theif? Tell me any probe from NASS that has not been bought, sold or bribe their way home ? Let me tell you, we are hearing this just because some people did not agree or their sharing formula didn’t favor some of them,so they back bite them and call it politics,(peoples entitlement)while poor masses are dying. Don’t worry they will soon settle and the matter will die like bitter leaf. This is the deal,believe me or not, but this case will fly and nobody, i repeat NOBODY will go to jail. Corruption has gone deep as a tradition in Nigeria. Nigerians are not yet ready to take over what belongs to them,that’s why poverty will not cease to reign.
Where is Bankole with our stolen 52 billion naira. All the journalists from SW is hiding this money with Bankole. If an Igbo man stole this amount the whole Nigeria, in fact another Occupy Nigeria will erupt. Ogbuluafo was deposed and charged in court just for 15 million naira. where is justice.
Google: “APO SIX”
PLZ HELP US TO MAKE SURE THAT MOHAMMED IN THE APO SIX IS OUT OF NIGERIA ROAD including in his home town. He has to spend the rest of his life in jail where he belongs. We will get a lawyer to reopen this case to make sure that Mohammed is not a free man.
Where is Bankole with our stolen 52 billion naira. All the journalists from SW is hiding this money with Bankole. If an Igbo man stole this amount the whole Nigeria, in fact another Occupy Nigeria will erupt. Ogbuluafo was deposed and charged in court just for 15 million naira. where is justice.
Google: “APO SIX”
PLZ HELP US TO MAKE SURE THAT MOHAMMED IN THE APO SIX IS OUT OF NIGERIAn ROAD including in his home town. He has to spend the rest of his life in jail where he belongs. We will get a lawyer to reopen this case to make sure that Mohammed is not a free man.
There should be no sympathy for this evil civil servants. It is quite obvious from this story that these guys went out of their way to corrupt everybody that they could so that they could get away from their eveil scheme. This evil Chief should be locked up for life for sending too many hardworking people to their earlt grave by depriving them of their pensions.
Stop making it NASS problem or that everybody was guilty, the evil perpectrators are just these group of people, there should be no mercy
@Azeez please can we learn how to take God aside in all this shameless,greedy and wicked corrupt government. Its high time we Nigerians take it up by ourselves and tell this evil men that enough is enough.Pension fund, money meant for those who really suffered for this country by risking their lives one way or the other. They can hardly feed ones in a day, some of them die on the process of collecting this pension fund scam. Why are this people so greedy and wicked like this? Money that can take care of more than 10 states, some people will pocket it so that the pensioners will die. They don’t even think of their own death one day. Enough is enough, Nigerians rise up and take your country. This is evil.
Senators, Reps shares out of #8.9b Pension scan: It is only God that can make Nigeria corrupt nation free. A whole director general. Is claiming innocent due to his own deficiency.