An ex-Administrative Secretary with the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mr. Christian Nwosu, admitted on Thursday that he received and signed for the sum of N264.8m at a branch of Fidelity Bank in the build-up to the 2015 general elections.
He added that though he received N30m out of the N264.8m, he did not benefit from the money but spent it on logistics.
Nwosu stated this before the Federal High Court in Lagos where he is being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for allegedly conspiring with two other INEC officials to take a total bribe of N264.88m from a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, to compromise the elections.
The anti-graft agency claimed that the N264.8m was part of the sum of $115.01m which Diezani allegedly stashed in the bank for conversion and onward disbursement to several individuals across the 36 states of the federation.
But Nwosu said though he went to the bank to collect the NN224.8m out of which he got N30m, he did not benefit from the money.
He said the money was for logistics, adding that he acted under the instructions of one Mr. Togba who directed him over the phone to visit the bank to collect the money.
Nwosu said this while being cross-examined by the EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, during a trial-within-trial ordered by Justice Mohammed Idris.
The trial-within-trial is to test the voluntariness of confessional statements which Nwosu made to the EFCC.
Asked by the prosecutor whether he indeed collected and signed for money, Nwosu answered in the affirmative, clarifying, however, that, “I did not personally benefit from the N30m.
“The ad hoc staff benefitted because the election went smoothly with the assistance of the logistics support. My commission was aware of the money and the evidence was that the election went smoothly.” The Punch NG
