Fraud : 20 Billion Naira Scam, EFCC Detains UBEC Contractors

Fraud : 20 Billion Naira Scam, EFCC Detains UBEC Contractors 

 

By Soni Daniel, Abuja

A contractor with the Universal Basic Education Commission, Professor Adesanya Adelekan has been detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC over his involvement in the dubious diversion of about N20 billion meant for the supply of vital equipment and textbooks to the 104 unity schools across Nigeria.

EFCC operatives

According to EFCC, Adelekan was taken into custody since Thursday to enable the agency to conclude investigation into the alleged fraud, which was perpetrated between 2012 and 2014.

Professor Adelekan, who is the managing director of Macmillan Nigeria Publishers, was still under detention at the EFCC facility at the time of filing the report on Friday and there were indications he could spend the weekend with his interrogators.

Sources close to the anti-graft gency informed Saturday Vanguard that Adelekan had earlier made statements to operatives of the EFCC during which he promised to supply evidence of the execution of the multimillion Naira contract against claims by principals of the unity schools that they only received between less than 30 percent of the equipment/textbooks purportedly supplied to them and for which the contractor collected full payment.

An operative in EFCC said, “After he made statements, all efforts to get Adelekan to produce the evidence of executing the N20 bilion contract failed as he kept making promises that he never fulfilled.

“All the principals had made statements to the effect that they did not receive all the equipment and books listed against their schools. ‘All we wanted from Prof. Adelekan, was evidence to justify the payments he received.

“We are also hoping he will cooperate with us so that we can wrap up this investigation on time,” an EFCC source said.

Apart from principals of the unity schools, EFCC has also questioned a former Executive Secretary and directors of UBEC for their alleged role in the fraud.

The international passports of the contractor and the former executive secretary of UBEC have also been impounded pending the conclusion of investigation into the contracts fraud.

        Source #VanguardNews