Nigeria’s former finance minister and finance director of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation, Senator Nenadi Usman has refunded some of the N2.5bn she received from former national security adviser Col Sambo Dasuki.
Senator Usman, who was the finance minister towards the last tail end of the ex-president Obasanjo administration and later got elected as the senator representing Kaduna South. She was President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign director during the last elections. In her role, she was responsible for collecting money for the campaigns.
She was earlier this week she detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for receiving N2.5bn of a sum of N4bn (£13.8m) taken out of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the orders of Col Dasuki. After being detained for about four days Senator Usman has reportedly made a substantial refund of the cash.
According to sources in the EFCC, Senator Usman had unhindered access to huge sums of cash, some of which the EFCC said came from the CBN. According to findings, the former minister is being quizzed over various sums of money which were paid into her accounts, which she allegedly used to acquire properties in Abuja.
Reliable sources have indicated that/ Senator Usman had been cooperating with the operatives interrogating her and she has refunded an undisclosed amount of money to the commission. It is expected that she will now be released on bail at least for now, pending further enquiries.
“I can confirm that the former minister has refunded some money but I will not tell you how much she has made available to us. It is to be expected that the woman could be released on administrative bail as soon as she refunds the amount we traced to her,” the source added.
