How Diezani moved $153.3m from NNPC to banks

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has provided details of its claim that a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison -Madueke , siphoned $ 153 . 3 m from the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission .
In a nine - paragraph affidavit filed in support of the anti - graft agency ’ s ex parte application for the forfeiture of the funds , an EFCC investigator, Moses Awolusi , claimed that the anti -graft agency discovered through its investigations how sometime in December 2014 Diezani invited a former Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Plc , Nnamdi Okonkwo, to her office where they hatched the plan of how a cash sum of $ 153 , 310 , 000 would be moved from NNPC to Okonkwo to be saved for Diezani.
According to Awolusi , Diezani instructed Okonkwo to ensure that the money was “ neither credited into any known account nor captured in any transaction platforms ” of Fidelity Bank.
Awolusi said Okonkwo accepted and implemented the deal leading to the movement of $ 153 , 310 , 000 from NNPC to Fidelity Bank.
He said two former Group Executive Directors of Finance and Account of NNPC , B . O . N. Otti and Stanley Lawson , helped Diezani to move the cash from NNPC, Abuja to the headquarters of Fidelity Bank in Lagos .
Awolusi said in a desperate bid to conceal the source of the money, Okonkwo , upon receiving it, instructed the Country Head of Fidelity Bank, Mr . Martin Izuogbe, to take $ 113 , 310 , 000 cash out of the money to the Executive Director, Commercial and Institutional Bank, Sterling Bank Plc , Lanre Adesanya , to keep .
He said the remaining $ 40 m was taken in cash to the Executive Director , Public Sector Accountant, First Bank, Dauda Lawal , to keep .
The investigator said out of the $ 113 , 310 , 000 handed over to Adesanya , a sum of $ 108 , 310 , 000 was invested in an off balance sheet investment using Sterling Asset Management Trustees Limited .
He said the $ 108 , 310 , 000 was subsequently changed to N23 , 446, 300 , 000 and saved in Sterling Bank.
Awolusi said the EFCC had recovered the N23 . 4 bn in draft and had registered it as an exhibit marked , EFCC 01 .
The investigator said the EFCC had also recovered another $ 5 m out of the money kept with the MD of Access Bank Plc , Mr . Herbert Wigwe .
He said the $ 5 m was recovered in draft and had been registered as an exhibit marked , EFCC 02 .
According to him , First Bank’ s ED , Lawal , had converted the $ 40 m kept with him to N 9 , 080 , 000 , 000 .
Awolusi said the EFCC had recovered that also in draft and registered it as Exhibit EFCC 03 .
Moving the ex parte application on Friday , the EFCC lawyer , Mr . Rotimi Oyedepo , urged Justice Hassan to order the temporary forfeiture of the funds to the Federal Government and to order Sterling Bank and Lawal , who were joined as defendants in the application , as well as any other interested parties , to appear in court within two weeks to show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
Oyedepo , who said the application was brought pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act No . 14 , 2006 and Section 44 ( 2 ) (‘) of the 1999 Constitution , said granting the application was in the best interest of justice.
After hearing him out, Justice Hassan granted the order and adjourned till January 24 , 2016 for the respondents to appear in court to show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.