N1.5trn fraud: NIMASA DG petitions EFCC, demands investigation

The Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate reports alleging that the sum of N1.5trillion and $9million was traced to his personal accounts.

The allegations, which has been trending on the social media for close to a week emanated from a series of tweets of a United States based Nigerian blogger named Jackson Ude alleging that humongous sums were traced to Jamoh personal account by unnamed United Kingdom investigators.

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The report also accused the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele of connivance in the transfer of monies belonging to NIMASA into Bashir Jamoh private accounts instead of Treasury Single Account TSA.

Ude had mischievously identified one Hamza Ibrahim Jamo, a retired employee of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and presently a representative of Talent Enterprise, a Dubai-based training firm, as the NIMASA Director General.

While the NIMASA DG’s surname is Jamoh, the person Ude chatted with and published screenshots of their conversation is Jamo, an almost similar surname without the letter ‘h’ at the end.

Jamo, the former NNPC employee, said he retired after 35 years of service. He said his gratuity was paid into the Fidelity Bank account, which Ude had reported an outrageous and nonexistent sum of 1.5 trillion.

The report listed GTbank, Access Bank and Fidelity Bank as banks where the funds were discovered by the investigators.

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However, Jamoh, in the letter addressed to the EFCC Chairman, dated 24th of May, 2021, urged the anti-graft agency to carry out a thorough and painstaking investigation into the matter, which he said had placed his integrity at stake.

The letter reads: “I write to bring to your attention the attached online publications and tweets that have gone viral since Friday 21st of May, 2021. The publications emanated from a series of tweets of one Jackson Ude alleging the sums of NI.5 trillion and another US$9,557,312.50 were traced to my personal account.

“The allegation of money laundering, which impugn my integrity, character and family name and have been circulating on the social media, also suggested that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria be invited by security agencies to give reasons why such huge sums of money was transferred to my personal account instead of the Treasury Single Account.

“In view of this weighty allegation and the insidious and pernicious damaging effect on the government and the country, I hereby request that a thorough and painstaking investigation be carried out by your Commission with a view to unravelling the truth or accuracy of the allegation. This is to put the records straight in the public domain, please.”