Secret Reporters No place to hide
Secret Reporters
Countless corruption cases filed before criminal courts across the country; but many appears to have been left unattended to, mainly because those involved have begun singing ‘kumbaya’ in the ears of those who are empowered by law to let down the sledgehammer of justice for the people.
Sitting in the front pew of such cases is no other than a former Minister of education and two-term governor of Kano state in Nigeria, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau. Born November 1955 and currently representing Kano central senatorial district, the 64 years old billionaire from the centre of commerce is rumoured to be worth over $29 Million according to sources who squealed that his source of income is mostly by being a Professional Politician.
With a case filed against him and other accused persons by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Shekarau in May 2018 was arraigned before the Federal High Court sitting in Kano together with Bashir Wali, a former minister of foreign affairs and Mansur Ahmad, Ex-President Jonathan’s campaign Director on six counts bordering on conspiracy and money laundering to the tune of N950million.
It was revealed from investigations that Shekarau allegedly with his partners in crime between March 26 and 27, 2015, in Kano, conspired and received large sums of money without going through financial institutions from the embattled former minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke as they claimed that the cash was meant for party politics.
In the first arraignment, Justice Zainab Bage Ibrahim of the Federal High Court sitting in Kano granted bail in the sum of N100m each with two reliable sureties in like sum to the trio but turned down the application by Shekarau for the release of his international passport to enable him to travel to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj.
Shekarau’s defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in September 2018 allegedly was all that was needed to turn the tide in the case as the request from the EFCC to move the case from Kano to Abuja over security reasons was turned down despite the claim by the prosecuting counsel J.A. Ojogbana that his life and those of three witnesses were being threatened by supporters loyal to the senator.
According to Ojogbana, operatives of the EFCC narrowly escaped being lynched after mayhem ensued between the said supporters and security men the day the ex-governor was arraigned in court adding that his witnesses have developed cold feet.
Drawing up tactics from his vault as a professional politician who can sway his way in any circumstance, Shekarau returned to court and filed for a ‘no-case submission’. However, in his ruling, Justice Allagoa maintained that the EFCC has proven beyond any known doubt to substantiate its allegations against the trio.
No further information, however, has been disclosed to the general public on the case after the November 18th and 19th date for the trio to open any defence on the allegations levelled against them.
