 has arraigned a former Kaduna State government contractor, Bashir Bello Ibrahim, before Justice A. M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court,){kind=link}
By Abdullahi Inuwa,
The Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a former Kaduna State government contractor, Bashir Bello Ibrahim, before Justice A. M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court, Kaduna, for alleged ₦111 million fraud.
Bashir, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Formal Act Legacy Limited, was docked on a seven-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence, advance fee fraud, and money laundering.
According to the EFCC, the defendant and his company conspired to obtain ₦37.3 million under the guise of awarding contracts for the construction of solar-powered boreholes across the North East, allegedly posing as a United Nations Sub-African Regional Coordinator.
One of the charges reads:
> “That you, Bashir Ibrahim Bello (being Managing Director of Formal Act Legacy Limited), and Formal Act Legacy Limited sometime in July 2024 at Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, conspired between yourselves to commit a felony, to wit: obtaining the sum of ₦37,300,000 under false pretence, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Another charge accused the defendant of money laundering, contrary to Section 21(a) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to all charges. Following his plea, EFCC counsel Fortune Amina I. Asemebo requested a trial date, while defence counsel M. T. Mohammed moved for bail. However, Justice Aikawa deferred hearing on the bail application and ordered that Bashir be remanded in a Correctional Centre pending determination of his bail.
Investigations revealed that the petitioner, who was lured into the fraudulent deal by three alleged accomplices — Josephine Washima, Mamuda Nyelong, and Nalara Tanimu — paid over ₦37.3 million as a “facilitation fee” for the purported contracts. He was issued five fake letters of award for the drilling of 20 solar-powered boreholes.
The petitioner reportedly executed one slot of the project in Karin Madaki, Bauchi State, constructing four boreholes behind Specialist School, Sabon Abuja Jahun, Nurses Quarters, and Water Board Quarters, but was never paid. It was later discovered that the entire contract was fictitious, prompting his petition to the EFCC.
Justice Aikawa adjourned the case to a later date for hearing of the bail application and commencement of trial.
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