Alleged N450m Election Fund: Again, Belgore confesses sharing fund among Police, Army, DSS, others
By Kayode Adeoti
Former governorship candidate in Kwara State, Mohammed Dele Belgore,
on Friday, informed a Federal High Court, Lagos, that part of the N450
million he received from ex-minister of Petroleum Diezani-Allison
Madueke during the 2015 general elections was shared to the police,
the army, the Department of State Security and others.
Belgore, alongside Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, a former minister of
National Planning, standing trial before the court over N450 million
fraud had pleaded not guilty and were granted bails.
At the resumed trial, Belgore, who was the Kwara State’s coordinator
of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Organisation, while
being cross-examined by the prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, said N10m,
N1m, N2m, N1m and N1m were given to the state’s CP, resident AIG, DCP
Operations, ACP operations and ACP administration respectively; while
N7m, N10m and N2.5m were given to MOPOL O/C, 2i/c MOPOL Unit Commander
and Director of DSS and men respectively.
Belgore added that N50m and N20m were given to the military and other
security agencies such as FRSC and officers of the Civil Defence
Corps.
Recall that the offence was allegedly committed in the build-up to the
2015 general elections.
The anti-graft agency claimed that the fund was part of a larger sum
of $115.01m, which the former Petroleum Minister, allegedly doled out
to influence the outcome of the 2015 general elections.
In the nine counts, the EFCC accused them of making cash payment of
N10m to Kwara State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr.
Emmanuel Onucheyo.
The commission said they also paid N10m to a Commissioner of Police,
Garba Saliu, on March 27, 2015, without going through a financial
institution.
The sums, the commission said, exceeded the amount authorized by law
and violated Sections 1(a) and 16 (d) of the Money Laundering
(Prohibition) (Amendment) Act of 2012 and punishable under Section 16
(2) (b).
According to the EFCC, the defendants “directly took possession of the
sum of N450m,” which they “reasonably ought to have known forms part
of the proceeds of unlawful act.”
