EFCC Arrests Ex-Plateau Assembly Speaker, 14 Other Lawmakers over Alleged N2.5bn Scam

• A former Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Moses Thomas Sule, and 14 former lawmakers have been arrested over allegations of money laundering and abuse of office
• The suspects were arrested by operatives of the EFCC’s Makurdi Zonal Directorate on Tuesday, June 17, following petitions from concerned citizens in the state
• The commission's spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, confirmed this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja and shared further details

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.

Abuja - The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested a former Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly, Moses Sule, alongside 14 former lawmakers over allegations of money laundering and abuse of office.

EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, confirmed this in a statement issued on Wednesday, June 18, in Abuja.

According to the commission’s spokesman, the suspects were arrested by operatives of the EFCC’s Makurdi Zonal Directorate on Tuesday, June 17, following petitions from concerned citizens in the state.

Oyewale explained that the former legislators allegedly violated the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and were also implicated in procurement irregularities.

Details of 14 lawmakers arrested

Continuing, he disclosed that other lawmakers arrested alongside Sule included Gwottson Fom, Sani Abubakar, Jwe Gwom, Timothy Dantong, Happiness Akawu, and Cornelius Doeyok.

Oyewale listed others to include; Agbalak Ibrahim, Danjuma Azi, Fwangje Ndat, Salome Waklet, Namba Rimuyat, Nimchak Rims, Ishaku Maren and Paul Datugun.

“Investigation showed that the former legislators spent only six months in office, and the state government bought several luxury vehicles for them in their official capacities.

“Investigation further showed that the said vehicles are valued at N2.5 billion.

“Upon leaving office, the vehicles were meant to be returned to the state government but were taken away by the legislators, and all efforts to retrieve them have proved abortive.

“The state government had to procure another set of vehicles for the present members of the House of Assembly valued at about N2 billion,” he said.

Oyewale added that the suspects would be charged in court upon the conclusion of investigations.

Read more about EFCC here:

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• After 4 years, EFCC arraigns Farm360, another ponzi operator for N80 million fraud
• Yahoo boy arrested over $300,000 fraud
• Man gets 74 years sentence in EFCC N360 million fraud case, ordered to restitute victim

EFCC updates wanted list in CBEX fraud

In a related news, Legit.ng reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission released the names of two more suspects allegedly involved in the N1.3 trillion Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) scam.

This brings the total number of suspects to eight, bolstering the commission’s efforts to apprehend the criminals.

Note that a Federal High Court in Abuja also gave the EFCC permission to arrest and detain six suspects connected to the investigations into the CBEX scam.

Source: Legit.ng