Ex-Chief of Staff indicts El-Rufai in money laundering case

Ex-Chief of Staff indicts El-Rufai in money laundering case

Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu, the former Chief of Staff to Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has reportedly implicated his former principal, El-Rufai, in a confessional statement linked to an ongoing money laundering investigation.

Sa’idu was arrested and arraigned on December 31, 2024, at the Chief Magistrate Court in Rigasa, Kaduna, where he was remanded in custody.

Sa’idu faces charges related to the alleged sale of $45 million in hard currency, belonging to the Kaduna State Government, at a drastically undervalued rate of ₦410 per dollar, significantly lower than the parallel market rate of ₦498 per dollar. This action resulted in a loss of ₦3,960,000,000 to the state government.

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The prosecution claims that the incident occurred in 2022 when Sa’idu served as the Commissioner of Finance under El-Rufai’s administration.

The charges also allege that the funds were laundered in violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

A security source, who spoke under condition of anonymity to The Nation, revealed that in his statement to police, Sa’idu claimed that the decision to convert the funds was made by the then-Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, rather than by the Commissioner of Finance.

Sa’idu reportedly mentioned that El-Rufai personally instructed how much money to convert and oversaw the bidding process for currency conversion, often rejecting higher bids in favour of those offering less favourable rates.

Under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, anyone found guilty of such violations could face imprisonment for a term ranging from four to 14 years, alongside a fine of up to five times the value of the proceeds of the crime.

 

Ex-Chief of Staff indicts El-Rufai in money laundering case