•Panel summons bank MDs



Another illegal police pension account with N3billion cash has been discovered.

The discovery, which was announced yesterday by the Senate Committee probing the management of the pension fund, deepens the scam in the pension system.

Permanent Secretary Atiku Abubakar Kigo and five other top civil servants are standing trial for the alleged theft and mismanagement of N32.8 billion police pension fund.

The Senate Committee said the account is with an old generation bank.

The N3 billion, the committee said, was deposited the same day the account was opened.

The committee said its preliminary findings showed that the account did not have the blessing of the Accountant General of the Federation.

The committee said the questionable account was opened in the name of Adamu Salihu but with different codes.

Senator Aloysius Etok, head of the Joint Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service and States and Local Government Administration, which is probing the fund, vowed to get to the root of the suspicious account.

Etok announced the invitation of Managing Directors of seven banks and the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, to unravel the mystery behind the series of controversial accounts on the pension fund.

The banks whose chief executives were invited by the committee are First Bank, Union Bank, Zenith Bank, Diamond Bank, Fidelity Bank, GTB and Skye Bank.

The banks’ chiefs are expected to appear before the committee on April 16.

The Executive Director (North), United Bank for Africa (UBA), Mr. Dan Okeke, who appeared before the committee to clarify issues surrounding another pension account in his bank, noted that it was not possible for one account to bear two names.

Okeke also said it was not possible under normal circumstance for two persons to operate one account.

The bank official said there was approval before the account was opened but could not say if the approval was granted before or after the controversial account was opened.

He urged the committee to give him time to fetch a copy of the approval letter for opening the account.

Okeke said: “It is highly unlikely for such to happen. If you let us have the specific case, we can go back and confirm, but under normal circumstance, two names are not supposed to bear same account number.”

Etok sought to know whether interest is paid on the account or not.

Okeke said UBA would not pay interest on such account, except it is a fixed deposit account.

He is to give the committee details of all the pension accounts of the police, Head of Service, Customs Service and others with his bank.

Kigo and five others standing trial over N32.8 billion Nigeria Police Pension Fund, got bail yesterday.

Also granted bail are a director, Esai Dangabar; Ahmed Inuwa Wada, John Yakubu Yusufu, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula and Sani Habila Zira.

They are facing a 16-count charge of criminal breach of trust slammed against them by the EFCC.

The alleged offence is punishable under Sections 97, 115 (ii), 119, 309 and 315 of the Penal Code Act Cap. 532 Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria 2007.

Justice Abubakar Talba granted them N10m bail each and two sureties each in the like sum. The sureties must be residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). One of them must be a civil servant not below Grade level 14.

Ruling on the bail application argued by Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), Justice Talba agreed that the court has discretion to admit the accused persons to bail.

The court after weighing the balance of convenience, decided that the accused persons are presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

The Judge disagreed with the EFCC’s claim that investigation into the case had not been concluded and also dispelled insinuations that the accused will interfere with the trial.

According to him, with the proof of evidence placed before the court, it is presumed that investigation had been done.

Awomolo urged the court to grant the accused bail on the grounds that they did not abuse the administrative bail granted them by the anti-graft agency before being brought to court.

But EFCC counsel Mr. Rotimi Jacob argued that the accused failed to place enough material before the court to enable it exercise its discretion in their favour.

The accused, between January 2009 and June 2011 in Abuja, allegedly diverted N14,518,567,724, being part of the police pension fund from an account domiciled at First Bank Plc.

Between January and December 2009 in Abuja, they also allegedly breached the public trust with N8,920,371,822 police pension fund kept at First Bank Plc.

The charge sheet also indicated that between January 2010 and February 2011, also in Abuja, they diverted N4,739,894,896 police fund and another N858,301,006 between February and June 2011.

They were also accused of stealing N656,559,289 in January 2011 while in March 2009 another N462,963,012 was allegedly diverted from the same source while working at the police pension office among others.

The case has been adjourned till April 28 for trial.

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