An ex - Administrative Secretary with the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mr . Christian Nwosu , on Thursday alleged that he was cajoled into confessing to taking a bribe of N 30 m to compromise the 2015 general elections .
Nwosu , who is being prosecuted before the Federal High Court in Lagos for alleged bribery , claimed that the three confessional statements he made to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on December 28 , 2016 and March 15 and 22 , 2017 were not done voluntarily .
He claimed to have been threatened and cajoled to make the confessional statements , adding that he was not given the opportunity to consult his lawyer before he made the statements .
He , however , admitted that he signed for and collected N 30 m from Fidelity Bank .
Nwosu stated this on Thursday while being led in evidence by his lawyer, Mr . Victor Opara , during a trial - within - trial ordered by Justice Mohammed Idris to test the voluntariness of three confessional statements he made to the EFCC .
The EFCC accused him of conspiring with two other INEC officials to take a total bribe of N 264 . 88 m from a former Minister of Petroleum Resources , Mrs. Diezani Alison - Madueke, to compromise the election .
He had earlier pleaded guilty to the charges and opted for a plea bargain, after which the EFCC told the court that it had already recovered N 5 m cash and a landed property worth N 25 m from him.
But Nwosu later abandoned the plea bargain after Justice Idris rejected the N 500, 000 fine proposed for him as punishment by the EFCC .
Justice Idris had held that by virtue of Section 16( 2 )( b ) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition ) Act, under which Nwosu was charged, he was supposed to pay a fine of N 10 m or go to jail for two years .
At his resumed trial on Thursday, he maintained that he never voluntarily entered into a plea bargain with the EFCC but was cajoled to do so .

http://punchng.com/efcc-forced-me-to-admit-taking-n30m-from-diezani-inec-official/