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NEMA of Fraud: How suspended staff allegedly siphoned billions of Naira
Officials of the federal government last night revealed details of how over a billion naira was misappropriated by seven staff of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
A government source, who did not want to be named, gave details of how the embattled staff stole $284,000 and £95,000 respectively in an email he forwarded to newsmen last night.
The source said the suspended officers had hurriedly and illegally taken the matter to the House of Representatives, in a pre-emptive move designed to stonewall the ongoing investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and in order to cover up their alleged misdeeds.
According to him, an authoritative report on the matter submitted to the presidency by the agencies involved in the investigations had revealed the activities of the suspended directors and point to “a clear case of abuse of office, graft, and collusion on the part of the NEMA directors.”
He said the agencies’ findings were contrary to the clearance given the staff of NEMA by the House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness.
He said: “The indicted officials indeed have genuine cases to answer. Actually, some of the officers have made confessional statements, while others could simply not explain the money and properties already traced to them.
“Based on the facts contained in the report, their claim of innocence cannot be substantiated and the presumed understanding they are getting from the House of Representatives is indeed a true reflection of the current state of affairs in Nigeria, where the most corrupt often seek to cover their misdeeds by pointing accusing fingers at others.”
According to him, details of the report revealed that the affected persons, in connivance with the former Director- General of NEMA, may have formed an alliance with certain already identified House committee members and illegally procured and stole various papers from NEMA files in their bid to exonerate themselves and challenge their suspension, saying they were innocent whistleblowers only being victimised by the board.
He added that whereas the impression in the House of Representatives last week presents the indicted officials as victims of circumstances, “the reality is rather different and there is evidence now accruing to government that the action of some in the House may be an attempt to protect the suspended directors in an unwholesome deal, which is already causing ripples even in the National Assembly.”
He said the presidency is querying the House sympathy for illegal removal of official documents by the suspended staff and their acceptance by members of the House, which he said had “the constitutional powers to access the document but resort otherwise.”
The report submitted to the presidency shows the enormity of the crimes committed by the officials which comprised misappropriation of public funds, frivolous claims of personal emoluments and conspiracy with the other officials to short-change the federal government of due revenues, among others.
He said: “Regarding the former NEMA DG, Mr. Sani Sidi, for instance, it was indicated that he maintained 20 different accounts in various banks, despite his public servant status.
“EFCC found suspicious deposits amounting to $164,000 in his domiciliary account at Standard Chartered Bank alone, all within 18 months, that is, between January 2014 and June 2015.
“This almost averages out at $10,000 per month. At the same time, he had up to £58,000 in his Pound Sterling Account. He faces allegations of misappropriation of public funds, frivolous claims of personal emoluments and conspiracy with the other officials to short-change the federal government of due revenues.
“Also indicted and suspended is the Director of Finance and Accounts, Akinbola Hakeem Gbolahan who also maintains many bank accounts with questionable transactions. EFCC, the report indicated, has noted in particular his account in GTBank where suspicious deposits were found, totaling N27, 650,000 which is, in addition, the over £37,000 and $120,000 found in his domiciliary accounts, and his naira account which has several suspicious deposits in excess of N50 million, much of which flowed directly from NEMA.
“For the Acting Director of Special Duties, Mr. Umesi Emenike, findings from the report revealed that funds meant for programmes and maintenance of the South-south zone operations of NEMA under his supervision were paid directly into his personal accounts (14 of them have been discovered by EFCC in various banks), instead of the Zonal Office Account.
“And he was found to have withdrawn freely in cash, by electronic transfers or through ATM Machines, without any evidence of the money being used for NEMA activities.
“Also, according to the report, his subordinate, the Zonal Accountant, also made several cash lodgments into the personal account of Emenike. About N238,000,000 has so far been traced from NEMA directly to Emenike’s personal accounts which were placed in fixed deposits and used freely by the Acting Director.
“The report also revealed that the Director of Risk Reduction, Mr. Alhassan Nuhu, also maintained five bank accounts which were apparently used as conduits to receive and distribute money from NEMA coffers.
“According to the report, so far, Mr. Nuhu has not been able to give a satisfactory account of the transactions, including NEMA Funds moving through him to a company called Dambo Farms Limited.
“The case of the pilot in charge of NEMA’s Air Ambulance is especially interesting. His name is Mamman Ali Ibrahim. On his own, he commercialized both the NEMA Air Ambulance and Helicopter. The report further indicates that EFCC traced at least N285 million to him, of which only N63 million was paid to the Accountant General’s Office and another N11 million was paid to NEMA, but the rest cannot be accounted for.
“According to the report, some of the money was however channeled to his family members through his company, Aerocare West Africa Limited, while others in foreign exchange were directly traced to the former DG’s accounts.
“The report also indicted the Chief Maintenance Officer; Mr. Ganiyu Yunusa Deji who was in charge of fuel supplies to NEMA generators and was found to have been receiving regular returns into his personal account from the supplier, Rekimat Global Resource Limited. It was also noted in the report that since Mr. Ganiyu Yunusa was suspended; the fuel that used to last for one week now lasts for more than a month.
“There is also the case of M. Kanar Mohammed, the Director of Welfare. His six bank accounts were found to be replete with NEMA funds, including a N214 million, meant for displaced traditional rulers in the North-east, N184 million paid by him to one Crystal Chambers and N29.5 million paid by him to a former minister, Abdul Bulama.
“The report, however, indicated that all the indicted officers are still under investigation mainly by EFCC and their suspension was obviously to ensure they don’t remain in office to tamper with evidence in the process of due investigation.
“It is therefore expected that the final report of investigation will soon be ready, following which the seven NEMA suspended directors will face “for sure criminal prosecution.”
Source: ThisDay
News
‘If You Want It Dirty, You’ll Get It Dirty’, Benue Diaspora DG Escalates Threat Against National Record Reporter
By Our Reporter
The Editor-in-Chief of National Record, Iduh L. Onah, has raised alarm over what he described as ‘grave threats’ issued against one of the online newspaper’s reporters, Mr. Amos Aar, by the Director-General of the Benue State Directorate of Diaspora Linkages and Investments, Professor Abraham Tartenger Girgih.
In a letter dated June 25, 2025, addressed to Prof. Girgih and made available to the press, National Record condemned what it called “unwarranted threats” following the publication of a report on the funding challenges being faced by the Directorate under the DG’s leadership since its formation in 2024.
According to Onah, while the publication welcomes robust engagement in the form of rejoinders on stories perceived to contain among other things misinformation, misrepresentation or distortion, no one has the right to issue threats.
“While it is within your right to respond to perceived misinformation or misrepresentation and distortion or outright fabrication, in any publication, it is, however, beyond that right to issue a threat as grave as “dire consequences”, Onah stated.
The Editor-in-Chief further noted that the situation escalated after the publication of a follow-up report when Prof. Girgih called the correspondent and made what the paper considers to be a further threat.
“After the publication of the threat and other claims in your rejoinder, you again went ahead to issue what we deemed to be further grave threat when you stated: “…if you want it dirty, you will get it dirty”, among other words perceived as veiled threat, in a telephone conversation you had with our correspondent shortly after you may have read our follow-up report,” stated the Editor-in-Chief.
The management of National Record expressed deep concern for the safety of its correspondent and other staff, especially given the hostile tone of Prof. Girgih in his conversation with the reporter.
The media organization said it is taking steps to notify security agencies, the Benue State Government, and professional journalism bodies about the threats, while also demanding a written assurance from Prof. Girgih that no harm will befall Mr. Aar or any member of the newspaper’s staff.
“We demand from you a written assurance of Mr Aar’s safety from harm and that of our other staff, and a further commitment to desist from harassing, heckling, intimidating or bullying us in whatever manner,” Onah wrote.
While no official response had been received from Prof. Girgih as at press time, National Record expressed hope for civility going forward and reiterated its commitment to its constitutional mandate as a stakeholder in the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
The letter reads in full:
Professor Abaham Tartenger Girgih
The Director-General
Directorate of Diaspora Linkages and investments
Makurdi, Benue State.
Dear Prof. Girgih;
THREATS ON OUR PERSONNEL AND ORGANISATION
On behalf of the Management of Contest Communications Limited, publishers of National Record, I bring you warm fraternal greetings.
We wish to express our dismay and concern over your threat on our Benue State Correspondent, Mr Amos Aar, in particular, and generally, our entire organisation, as contained in your rejoinder to a report we had published on challenges being faced by the agency which you head.
While it is within your right to respond to perceived misinformation or misrepresentation and distortion or outright fabrication, in any publication, it is, however, beyond that right to issue a threat as grave as “dire consequences”.
After the publication of the threat and other claims in your rejoinder, you again went ahead to issue what we deemed to be further grave threat when you stated: “…if you want it dirty, you will get it dirty”, among other words perceived as veiled threat, in a telephone conversation you had with our correspondent shortly after you may have read our follow-up report.
While we intend to take steps to formally note these threats before the appropriate security agencies, the Benue State Government under which you are serving, as well as our professional organisations nationally; we wish to inform you that the life of our Benue State Correspondent, Amos Aar, and our entire personnel, remains insecure in the context of your threats.
In that regard, we demand from you a written assurance of Mr Aar’s safety from harm and that of our other staff, and a further commitment to desist from harassing, heckling, intimidating or bullying us in whatever manner from carrying out our constitutional mandate as key stakeholders in the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
As we look forward to relating with you in formal, civilised manner, and prompt action on our demands, please, accept the assurances of our esteemed regards.
Iduh L. Onah
Editor-in-Chief
National Record (https://nationalrecord.com.ng)
The Enugu State government has inaugurated a steering committee to eliminate Gender-Based Violence, GBV, in the state, declaring zero tolerance for the social malaise.
The inauguration took place at the Government House Enugu.
The panel, which is chaired by the Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Ngozi Enih, draws its membership from the Nigeria Police Force, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro Industrialisation, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ministry of Human Development and Poverty Reduction, Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education as well as the Civil Society.
Inaugurating the panel known as the Steering Committee for Strengthening Institutional and Community Responses to End Gender-Based Violence/Domestication of Enugu State Gender Policy using the Oputa Panel approach, Governor Peter Mbah restated his administration’s commitment to not bringing perpetrators of GBV to book, but also putting in place proactive measures – activities, infrastructure, and systems in place to prevent them.
Mbah, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said, “We take gender-based violence seriously. We have zero tolerance for it, and in Enugu State, we are ready to go the extra mile to deal with it.
“If you notice, the government has selected people that are very committed to this goal. This is not an activity where we just want to check-off the list. We will track this. We will monitor this, and we will have quarterly engagements on the successes that this particular committee has achieved in terms of reference that we are going to send.
“We will tighten those terms of reference indicators, so that we monitor what we are doing both in terms of cost input and the value added. It’s very important to us. Many people will be involved – civil society, the police and various ministries.”
He however, said that the effort was to protect everyone, men and women alike, as GBV was not restricted to any gender.
“The whole idea is to hold people responsible that are involved in matters relating to gender violence and deter people that by culture or by association get involved in that, protect women, protect our children, and in the case of violence against men, protect our men because most times we misconstrue gender violence to mean women, but it can also be men too.
“We encourage our men to speak out and to make sure they understand that the policy that Enugu State is soon going to domesticate is for everyone, and not only for the female gender,” he stated.
In her remark, Mrs. Enih, explained that the Oputa Panel approach was inspired by the need to cover all local peculiarities in domesticating the policy on GBV, restarting government’s confidence in the members of the panel.
“The approach we are going to use is the Oputa Panel approach, and in the Oputa Panel approach, we are going to tour the 17 Local Government Areas to get firsthand information about what our people are going through because policy is meant for the people, and a policy should suit the people.
“Again, every community has its peculiar problems, so that’s why the government decided that if we have to domesticate the gender policy, we have to hear from the people who own the policy and know the changes that they desire to see. That is the reason we are using this approach.
“The committee members are to also serve as judges. As we gather this information from our people, we will come back to tailor it in a way to suit the people of Enugu State, and then our policy is ready.
“We want the people to know that there is a gender policy for them. I can assure you that when the people are aware that there is such a policy, they will seek for the enforcement of that policy. So, this is not going to be one of those policies that will just lie on the shelf,” she said.
Digital solutions provider, Globacom, has congratulated Christians in Nigeria on this year’s Easter celebration, and urged them to emulate the noble qualities of Jesus Christ.
The company, in a goodwill message to the Christian faithful in the country, lauded their perseverance through the Lenten period which preceded Easter. It enjoined them to always promote the ideals of selflessness, love and peace among all as a way of demonstrating the virtues of the exemplary life of Jesus Christ.
“Peace, love and sacrifice are the central message of Easter. Christ offered himself in atonement for the sins of the world and he lived a life which made Him an eternal symbol of peace and goodwill for mankind”, Globacom added.
The company enjoined all Nigerians to share in the lessons of promoting selflessness, a necessary ingredient in the growth and development of every society. It also enjoined all Nigerians to join hands to make Nigeria a better place for all.
Easter is celebrated yearly at the end of the Lenten season of fasting and prayer considered as a ritual of purification for the Christian faithful. It also precedes the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ on Good Friday and His eventual resurrection on Easter Sunday.
The company assured its customers of seamless voice, data and Short Messaging Service (SMS) during and after the Easter celebrations, while urging them to avail themselves of the various data and voice offerings on the network.
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