The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has filed a five-count charge of embezzlement and money laundering against Jimi Lawal, a former aide to the ex-governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai.
The case, numbered FCH/KD/16c/2025, was submitted to the Federal High Court in Kaduna on January 15 by Dr. Osuobeni Ekpi Akponimishingha, the Assistant Chief Legal Officer of ICPC.
Lawal, who served as Senior Special Adviser/Counsellor to El-Rufai, is charged alongside Umar Waziri, Yusuf Inuwa, and Solar Life Nigeria Limited.
The ICPC alleged that in 2018, Lawal indirectly took control of N10,000,000 from the Kaduna State Accountant-General’s Operational Account, which was subsequently transferred to the bank account of Solar Life Nigeria Limited, where he was the sole signatory.
The commission claimed Lawal should have known that the funds were proceeds of corruption, in violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
In another charge, the ICPC accuses Lawal of diverting N47,840,000 from the Kaduna State Ministry of Finance’s bank account in July 2018.
The commission also claimed that in September 2018, while serving as a public officer, Lawal took control of N7,320,562 from the state’s Internally Generated Revenue account, which was transferred to another bank account under the control of Solar Life Nigeria Limited.
Furthermore, in October 2024, the ICPC accused Lawal of making false statements to investigators Wellington Nkemadu and Gudi Johnson Daniel, claiming that the total sum of N64,800,562, received in three tranches from the Kaduna State Government via Solar Life Nigeria Limited, was paid to individuals as estacode.
Prompt News reports that the ICPC asserted that Lawal knowingly made false statements, violating the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
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