Details have emerged regarding the 15 charges brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the former Governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku
The EFCC arrested Ishaku at his Abuja residence on Friday over an alleged fraud to the tune of N27billion.
Prior to his arrest, the charges against him were presented before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High court in Abuja on Thursday.
EFCC filed the indictment with 15 counts against Ishaku and a co-defendant, Mr. Bello Yero, a former Permanent Secretary of the Taraba State Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
In counts one and two, the anti-graft agency alleged that Ishaku and Yero improperly took a total of N1.10 billion from August 25, 2015, to March 21, 2016
. In counts three and four, the defendants were accused of having “dishonestly diverted” a total of N1.1 billion in state funds for their own personal benefit.
Count five pertains to the N193 million that the defendants are accused of misappropriating between January 2019 and April 2021.
In count six, the EFCC alleged that N650 million was misappropriated between January 6, 2019, and April 29, 2021.
In count seven, the EFCC alleged that the defendants misappropriated N170 million for their personal use between January 6, 2019, and April 29, 2021.
They were also alleged to have misappropriated N201.9 million from January 2019 to April 2021. Additionally, during the same period, the defendants were said to have diverted another N132.1 million.
In counts 10 and 11, the EFCC alleged that the defendants misappropriated N3.3 billion and an additional N639.4 million during the period from July 19, 2019, to February 5, 2021.
Between September 30, 2016, and February 23, 2021, the EFCC alleged that the former governor and Yero misappropriated N993 million as outlined in count 12.
Between May and December 2015, the defendants, according to the EFCC, allegedly misappropriated the sum of N90 million.
Ishaku is the sole defendant responding to counts 14 and 15, which accuse him of allegedly misappropriating N23 million and N761.3 million from October 2016 to January 2018.