News
N630 rent scam: CSO drags Saraki, Dogara, others to ICPC, Police
…Gives IGP 7 days ultimatum to arreast NASS leaders
A coalition of Civil Society organizations on the platform of Citizens Action to Take Back Nigeria (CATBAN), has petitioned the Inspector General of Police and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) over alleged financial theft to the tune of N630 million involving Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki, Speaker House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara and their deputies
The organisation has, however, given seven days ultimatum to arrest and persecute the National Assembly leaders over the allegation “or Nigerians will be mobilised to effect citizens arrest.”
The group had earlier made public that the National Assembly leaders allegedly used FCDA as a front under the guise of renting, renovation and furnishing of “fictitious official residences.”
In the two separate pettitions dated Friday 3rd February, 2017 and addressed to the Inspector General of Police and the ICPC chairman, CATBAN said “justice must be served, taxpayers’ money must be returned to the treasury, and everyone involved in this financial crime must be brought to book.”
The petition which was signed by the organisation’s co-convener Ibrahim Garba Wala, read:
3rd February 2017
Our Ref: CATBAN/NPF-PT-NASS-001
The Inspector General Nigeria Police Force, Federal Republic of Nigeria, FCT Abuja.
Sir,
PETITION TO INVESTIGATE, ARREST AND PROSECUTE THE FOUR (4) PRINCIPAL OFFICERS OF OUR NATIONAL ASSEMBLE OVER THEFT OF N630 MILLION THROUGH FEDERAL CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (FCDA)
Citizens Action to Take Back Nigeria (CATBAN) officially writes to demand an immediate investigation, arrest and prosecution of four (4) principal officers of National Assembly over criminal theft of Six Hundred and Thirty Million Naira (N630million) through false pretense at the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA).
CATBAN is an investigative coalition of active and actionable civil society organizations that are ready to defend and fight against corruption and injustice in Nigeria.
In our continued efforts to prevent corruption and assist law enforcement agencies to bring culprits of criminal behavior to justice, CATBAN is hereby notifying you of a huge financial theft, fraud and corruption to the sum of N630,125,499.90 perpetrated by the principal officers of National Assembly in persons of Sen. Bukola Saraki (Senate President), Sen. Ike Ekweremadu (Deputy Senate President), Hon. Yakubu Dogara (Speaker, House of Representatives) & Hon. Yusuf Larsun (Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives) involving the use of Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) as a front under the guise of renting, renovation and furnishing of ficticious official residences.
THE ALLEGATIONS
We thus hereby present details of the allegations as follows:
Sometime in the month of March 2016, the above mentioned four (4) principal officers of National Assembly clandestinely approached management of Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to provide them with residential accommodation, being a follow up to an orchestrated plan perfected earlier by a loyal agent acting between the National Assembly and FCDA, to steal money through false accommodation request. To buttress the fact that these plans were perfected before the request, the speed & dispatch used in accepting, approving & disbursing hundreds of millions of naira for the so called residential accommodation was within 48hours.
The principal officers concerned presented companies that acted both as Estate Agents & Property Owners for the exercise, to which the huge funds were paid to by FCDA.
The companies are:
GOGETIT INVESTMENT LIMITED:
Account Number: 1013452206 Bank: Zenith Bank
Account Signatory: Orkuma Hembe
(Orkuma Hembe is brother to Hon. Herman Hembe, Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory Committee of the House of Representatives)
LEGENDARK CONSULT LIMITED
Account Numbers: 0212119991, 0216710224 Bank: Guaranty Trust Bank
Account Signatory: Akpoti Felix Otaru
(Felix Akpoti is brother to Natasha Akpoti, and they own Builders Hub)
PITCH GLOBAL SERVICES
Accounts: Domiciled in First Bank & Skye Bank Account Signatory: Harrison Onyekachi Ogu
BREAK DOWN OF PAYMENT
SEN. BUKOLA SARAKI presented one of his properties acquired since he was Governor of Kwara State, located at No. 48 Lake Chad Crescent, Maitama District, Abuja and received the following sums:
Rent – N113,095,238.00 + N11,904,761.90 (VAT) Furnishing – N67,857,142.86 + N7,142,857.14 (VAT) Total – N199,999,999.90
HON. YAKUBU DOGARA presented one of his properties located at No.9 Persian Gulf Close, off Euphrates Street, Wuse 2, Abuja (recently constructed by A. A. Oil) and received the following sums:
Rent – N72,833,333.32 + N7,666,666. 68 (VAT) Furnishing – N63,146,500.00 + N6,647,000.00 (VAT) Total – N150,293,500.00
SEN. IKE EKWEREMADU presented no residential property, yet received as follows:
Rent – N90,476,190.76 + N9,525,809.24 (VAT) Furnishing – N45,084,285.72 + N4,745,714.28 (VAT) Total – N149,832,000.00
HON. YUSUF LARSUN also presented no residential property, yet received as follows:
Rent – N62,428,571.42 + N6,571,428.58 (VAT) Furnishing – N55, 190,476.18 + N5,809,523.82 (VAT) Total – N130,000,000.00
GRAND TOTAL OF PUBLIC FUNDS STOLEN – N630,125,499.90
CONTEXTUALIZING THE THEFT
The National Assembly as an independent arm of Government has all its statutory earnings and allowances properly fixed and spelt out by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Act, 2002. This same law gives the National Assembly the power and control over her own budget and expenditure, including payment of all forms of allowances, and according to the RMAFC the remuneration package for political, public and judicial office holders is calculated in relation to the percentages of their annual basic salaries. For example, each Nigerian Senator receives 150% of his/her annual basic salary as accommodation allowance while each member of our Federal House of Representatives gets same equivalent. This percentage is also applicable for their furniture allowances yearly.
In view of this, the appropriate accommodation allowance for the Senate President is Three Million, Seven hundred and Twenty Thousand Naira Only (N3,720,000.00) and that of his Deputy is Three Million, Four Hundred and Fifty One Thousand, Five Hundred Naira Only (N3,451,500.00). In the case of the Speaker of House of Representatives, his accommodation allowance is Three Million, Seven Hundred and Five Thousand Naira (N3,705,000.00) while his deputy is entitled to Three Million, Four Hundred and Thirty Five Thousand naira only (N3,435,000.00).
Our investigation reveals that, in spite the fact that these principal officers collected a total sum of N28, 623,000.00 being their legally approved rent & furniture allowances as stipulated by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) Act & representing 300% of their annual basic salaries, they still went ahead to connive & fraudulently collect a whooping N630, 125,499.90 of taxpayers’ money from FCDA to share, claiming same for rent & furnishing.
As an organization that has sworn to fight graft & instill good governance in public service in Nigeria, we were faced with a difficult question after it emerged from our preliminary investigations that these Principal Officers of the National Assembly impressed it on the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to provide them with accommodation, knowing fully well that the Monetization Policy prohibits the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) or any agency of government from using taxpayers money to meet up to personal demands of public officers outside the provisions of the law.
The 8th Assembly has since inception collected N150 billion and N120 billion as her annual budgets respectively, through First Line Charge. In this same budget, monetized provision of accommodation for Principal Officers are categorically stipulated & specified which the Senate President & Speaker collect with no context from anyone.
The Principal Officers of the National Assembly therefore have no excuse whatsoever to go asking for money from FCDA in the name of accommodation. What they have done is false representation & extortion, in connivance with individuals in the agency, all to enable collection and sharing of “free money”.
WHAT CATBAN HAS UNCOVERED AND PRESENTED ABOVE IS NOT JUST A MERE CASE WHERE THESE PRINCIPAL OFFICERS FALSELY CLAIMED MONEY FROM FCDA ON THE GUISE OF SEEKING OFFICIAL ACCOMMODATION, BUT RATHER A CLEAR CASE OF ABUSE OF POWER, STEALING, CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY AND DECEPTIVE USE OF SEEKING ACCOMMODATION AS A PLOY TO ENRICH THEMSELVES WITH PUBLIC FUNDS.
DISPELLING CLAIMS OF FALSE PATRIOTISM
Contrary to the seeming humane posturing of Senator Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara, our investigation reveals that the leadership of National Assembly deliberately refused to allow N10billion meant for the completion of the construction of houses of Principal Officers being handled by Julius Berger to go through the budget because of their ploy to exploit it to their criminal benefit. The contract was as a courtesy by the FCT Administration to provide official residence for any sitting officer of the legislature, but instead, they cut the allocation to N1 billion in the budget even when they know very well that it cannot in anyway advance the construction work. This is because they have seen the chance to continue to use the accommodation demand to FCDA as a conduit pipe to loot the treasury. The National Assembly has continued to spend millions of Naira on the rent accommodation and guest houses (too numerous to mention, both in Abuja & Lagos) for the Principal Officers from the budget of the National Assembly, and still go to the FCDA to collect money for same exercise.
OUR DEMANDS
1. An open and clinical investigation into the fraud to uncover how such huge amount of money were hurriedly processed and paid within 48 hours.
2. Immediate arrest and prosecution of the four (4) principal officers of the National Assembly by the Nigeria Police Force.
3. Immediate arrest and prosecution of all those involved in the theft at the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA)
4. Unconditional refund of our taxpayers’ money, stolen by these principal officers in connivance with their allies at the FCDA.
We expect that these culprits will be arrested within the next Seven (7) working days, failure to which CATBAN would be left with no option than to believe police needs citizens help to arrest them and as such, we will mobilize Nigerians to occupy the National Assembly and help police arrest them accordingly.
We are here to #TakeBackNigeria
Accept our warmest regards in your robust determination to not only effectively reposition the Nigerian Police Force, but to add real value to this administration in fighting graft & injustice irrespective of people involved.
Yours in National Service, FOR: CATBAN Coalition
Ibrahim Garba Wala
By Emmanuel Kuza
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nasarawa State, Abuga Ovie, has described the name Ombugadu as a political brand, saying the popularity and wide acceptance of the name have made David Emmanuel Ombugadu a major force in the state’s political landscape.
Ovie, who stated this in an interview on Tuesday, said what started as opposition from some of Ombugadu’s biological brothers and people he described as fathers and uncles who betrayed him for personal political interests had now assumed a wider dimension, with political parties allegedly joining the battle against him.
According to him, the latest development was an attempt to undermine the political value of the Ombugadu name by presenting another person with the same surname, describing it as an indication of how far some political actors were prepared to go to weaken the PDP governorship candidate.
“Ombugadu is a brand, not a title. The people are not fools. They know their own. You cannot simply bring another person bearing the same name and expect the people to forget the political identity that Ombugadu has built over the years,” he said.
He further alleged that a former governor was working to introduce a political associate who had served as Accountant-General of Nasarawa State into the political equation, with the alleged objective of destabilising the PDP and weakening its chances by ensuring that the party fields a less competitive candidate in 2027.
“The plan, as we understand it, is to destabilise the PDP and make sure the party presents a weak candidate, thereby creating an advantage for the former governor’s preferred candidate. But all those efforts have proved abortive because the national leadership of the PDP stood its ground and refused to lose its best bet for the 2027 governorship election,” Ovie said.
The PDP chieftain said the resolve of the national leadership to retain Ombugadu had demonstrated the confidence the party had in his capacity to win the governorship election, despite what he described as attempts by some political actors to frustrate his ambition.
Ovie urged political parties and their leaders to resolve their internal differences instead of concentrating their efforts on Ombugadu, whom he compared to David in the Bible, saying he remained focused despite betrayal and opposition from those close to him.
“Ombugadu is like David in the Bible. Even when his brothers forsook him, he remained focused. Today, despite the people who have betrayed him, he remains focused and has a blueprint that can rescue Nasarawa State,” he said.
He said political parties should concentrate on presenting their programmes and convincing voters about how they intend to address the challenges confronting the state rather than expending their energy on attempts to stop Ombugadu.
“Political parties should fix their problems instead of wasting their strength fighting Ombugadu. Let everybody bring their blueprint before the people and explain what they intend to do for Nasarawa State,” he said.
Ovie maintained that the 2027 election should be about ideas, competence and the future of Nasarawa State, rather than attempts to manipulate political structures or undermine individuals perceived to enjoy strong grassroots support.
He urged the people of the state, particularly the Eggon community, to remain politically vigilant and resist what he described as efforts to make them settle for less, insisting that voters would ultimately determine who enjoys their confidence at the polls.
Reduce repeated references to Ombugadu
By Israel Adamu, Jos
Two hundred widows from communities across Langtang North Central State Constituency of Plateau State have benefited from an empowerment outreach organised by Gimbiya Gani Nandir Lar under the Jagoran Talakawa movement.
The outreach, held at Pilgani in Langtang North Local Government Area, was aimed at supporting vulnerable women and drawing attention to the challenges faced by widows, particularly those struggling to provide food, pay school fees and meet other basic needs for their families.
The organiser, Nandir Lar, who is the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate for Langtang North Central State Constituency, said the gesture was motivated by compassion and concern for vulnerable members of the society.
She stressed that the outreach was not a political programme but an expression of love and support for humanity.
Nandir Lar said: “The plight of widows may not always make headlines, but their struggles are real, painful and deserving of our collective attention.
“This is simply an expression of compassion and love for humanity. It is not a political programme.
“Our constituency is home to people with diverse needs, including mothers, widows and young people who are seeking opportunities to improve their lives.”
Former Provost of the Federal College of Education, Pankshin, Amos Chirfat, commended the initiative, saying it had brought smiles to the faces of vulnerable women in the constituency.
Minority Leader of the Langtang North Legislative Council, Dirya Sheni, also commended Nandir Lar for supporting widows and other vulnerable members of the community.
At the end of the outreach, each of the 200 beneficiaries received a 10-kilogramme bag of corn flour, seasoning and N10,000 cash
By Francis Wilfred
The Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML), and the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) have expressed commitment to ensure a full compliance with the Anti Money Laundering/Counter Finance on Terrorism/Counter Proliferation Financing, (AML/CFT/CPF) laws within the Nigeria’s real estate sector.
They made the resolve during a stakeholders’ engagement held on Thursday, September 10, 2026
The engagement focused on Mutual Evaluation readiness, risk-based supervision, beneficial ownership transparency, customer due diligence, internal controls and stronger collaboration between SCUML and the real estate sector.
Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE 1 Ibinabo Amachree, speaking on behalf of SCUML highlighted the strategic role of real estate operators in protecting the integrity of Nigeria’s financial system, particularly given the sector’s vulnerability to money laundering and other financial crime risks.
Amachree encouraged REDAN members to move beyond registration to ensure that compliance is embedded in their day-to-day operations. He mentioned the areas to include: understanding institutional risks, knowing customers and beneficial owners, identifying politically exposed persons, conducting appropriate sanctions screening, maintaining effective internal controls and meeting applicable reporting obligations
He, therefore, reaffirmed readiness to working closely with REDAN and other stakeholders to improve compliance, build capacity and promote a stronger culture of accountability across the real estate sector
“The message is clear: effective compliance is not just about meeting regulatory requirements; it is about protecting businesses, strengthening the real estate sector and safeguarding the integrity of Nigeria’s financial system”, she said.
In his remarks, the Chairman of REDAN, Lagos state, Mr Tony Kolawole pledged readiness to partner with SCUML in ensuring compliance with AML/CFT/CPF in the real estate sector to uphold financial integrity.
The engagement also provided an opportunity for REDAN members to share practical regulatory and operational challenges affecting the sector, reinforcing the importance of continuous dialogue between regulators and industry stakeholders.
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