The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has intensified its arrest of persons connected with the N23 billion allegedly provided by the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, to ensure victory of former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 election.
As part of its renewed investigations into the case, operatives of the EFCC, on Tuesday, arrested Senator Grace Folashade Bent.
Bent, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State, was reportedly arrested in connection with the Diezani election largesse.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke allegedly raised the sum $115 million (about N23.29billion) to be distributed to party stalwarts, individuals and some officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to skew the 2015 election in favour of Jonathan.
A source said that Senator Bent, who represented Adamawa South in the Senate between 2007 and 2011, was arrested and interrogated in connection with the roles she played in the disbursement of the shares of N450 million her state received from the largesse.
A former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Esther Nenadi Usman, had told EFCC interrogators from its Gombe zonal office that she shared about N1.850 billion to party chieftains from the six states in North-East geopolitical zone.
The Head, Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, refused to confirm or deny Bent’s arrest.
He simply said: “I cannot say anything about that.”
Meanwhile, an EFCC insider, who would not want to be named, said more arrests would be made in the coming days.
The source added that when the commission opened investigations into the slush fund last year and made some arrests, it was able to make some recoveries as some persons who benefited from the funds made some refunds.
- Tribune