N5.7bn Fraud: Ex-Aide Testifies Against Shema

Special Adviser to ex-Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State on Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, Mr Nasiru Ingawa, yesterday told a Federal High Court in Katsina how Shema allegedly directed him to use about N5.7 billion state SURE-P funds for politics during his tenure.
The former special adviser testified at the resumed hearing of a fraud case against Shema.
Our correspondent reports that Shema is standing trial before the court on 26 counts bordering on fraud, in contravention of Section 15(2d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011, as amended.
The offences are punishable under Section 15 (3) of the Act.
Ingawa told the court that he was the Special Adviser to Shema on SURE-P from June 2014, to May 2015.
“I remember him (Shema) telling me that we were going to use the funds for politics and that we would extract our savings from there,’’ he said.
He said that the duo wrote memos for certain programmes and used half of the money, while the remaining half went into savings.
Ingawa also said that the department made direct purchases from which a certain percentage would go into savings.