The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has charged Malam Nasir El-Rufai's former Chief of Staff, Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Saidu, to the Federal High Court in Kaduna.
Alhaji Bashir Saidu, who also served as Commissioner of Finance in Kaduna State during the El-Rufai administration, was charged alongside Ibrahim Muktar, a public officer in the Ministry of Finance, on Tuesday.
According to Charge No. FHC/KD/IC/2025, the defendants face two counts of Money Laundering, contrary to earlier claims that Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Saidu had been exonerated of all charges after 10 months of investigation.
The court document alleges that sometime in March 2022, Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Saidu, then Commissioner of Finance, "did accept cash payment of the sum of N155,000,000.00 from Ibrahim Muktar, exceeding the amount authorized by law, which sum you received in cash through a proxy, namely Muazu Abdu, your Special Assistant, thereby committing an offense contrary to Section 2(a) and punishable under Section 19(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022."
The ICPC also alleges that in the same March 2022, Bashir Saidu "indirectly took control of the sum of N155,000,000.00 received in cash for and on behalf of you by Muazu Abdu from Ibrahim Muktar, which fund you reasonably ought to have known formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity, namely corruption, thereby committing an offense contrary to Section 18(2)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022."
Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 states that "any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (2) is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than four years but not more than fourteen years or a fine not less than five times the value of the proceeds of the crime, or both."
The charge, signed by Dr. Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha, Assistant Chief Legal Officer of ICPC, was filed on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, at the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Kaduna.
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