Secret Reporters No place to hide
Secret Reporters
It is said that delay in the dispensation of justice is tantamount to its denial; sadly, this has become a tool used by politicians to evade prosecution as most are known to employ various tactics to wittingly delay the carriage of justice until a favourable government who will declare them acquitted or overlook their corrupt practices gets into power.
This is the exact strategy employed by Senator Abdulaziz Nyako who represented Adamawa Central in the 8th Assembly after resigning from the Nigerian Navy perhaps seeing how wealthy his father Rtd Admiral Murtala Nyako who was a former Governor of Adamawa State has become due to alleged nefarious corrupt practices while in government.
Despite series of arraignments by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) since 2015 with the recent being a N29,000,000,000 (Twenty Nine Billion Naira) fraud trial initiated against them, no significant progress has been made in his conviction.
Investigations by SecretReporters showed that the Senator who has indeed been an ardent mentee of his father was first arraigned on August 7, 2015, by the EFCC along with his father Murtala Nyako, two others and five companies on a 37-count charge of criminal conspiracy, stealing, abuse of office and money laundering.
Sources maintained that the former gubernatorial candidate of Adamawa State diverted the eye-popping amount purported to be security funds and cunningly placed it under the control of Late Maaji Iro, the then Regional Manager of Zenith Bank Plc in the North-East for easy movement to private accounts without triggering the alarm of anti-corruption agencies.
Having successfully moved the funds from the state’s coffers, the duo through the manager and his account officer who doubled as his in-law allegedly began channelling same into five different company’s accounts, from which he began making withdrawals for private gains contrary to sections 15 (2) (a) & (6) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012 and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.
However, in tracing the funds which have been carefully looted, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) discovered that the Senator, who undoubtedly has become a master in the art of diverting public funds, channelled the funds into accounts belonging to Blue Opal Limited, Sebore Farms & Extension Limited, Pagoda Fortunes Limited, Tower Assets Management Limited and Crust Energy Limited which served as the conduit pipes through which the funds were allegedly transferred into private pockets.
In a bid to conceal the source of the funds, findings also showed that the Nyakos began embarking on the development of estates and other properties at various locations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, some of which were allegedly acquired using the name of his companies.
One such property allegedly acquired with proceeds of the N29 Billion according to sources is the Hill view Estate which is a 40 units four-bedroom duplex with two boys quarters sitting on a 21000 square meter land located at Plot 3049 Mpape District, Onex Layout, Abuja.
A search of the companies which were fingered as partners in the crime showed that Blue Opal Limited, Sebore Farms & Extension Limited, Pagoda Fortunes Limited and Crust Energy Limited which are allegedly owned by Abdulaziz Nyako are not registered under the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), while Tower Assets Management Limited registered on 06/04/2004 and located at 2nd Floor Mainacourth/Macaulay, Abuja, FCT was found to be owned by one Jonathan Luka Kogis.
With the mysterious death of two witnesses who gave evidence against the duo in court and the defection of his father Murtala Nyako to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), the trial seemed to have met a brick wall leaving speculators wondering if the case will ever be concluded or the Senator prosecuted.
