The Head of Asset Recovery and Management unit, Ministry of Justice, Ladidi Mohammed, is reportedly being grilled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), over allegations of fraud.
According to reports, Mohammed, who is very close to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, was initially detained for a number of days by the EFCC and grilled over allegations of fraudulent sale of recovered assets worth billions.
She was granted administrative bail with strident bail conditions which she could not meet until Thursday. According to sources, Mohammed was back at the commission on Friday for further questioning.
She reportedly told EFCC that she acted under ministerial instructions in disposing of some assets which were forfeited to the Federal Government by persons undergoing corruption trials. However, she was unable to produce any documented evidence to back-up her claims.
The EFCC is investigating fraudulent transactions involving Nigerian assets that Mohammed is accused of selling off under suspicious circumstances.
Malami had reportedly secretly granted a company and its attorneys a multi-billion-naira assets recovery contract. The AFG gave the firm, Gerry Ikputu & Partners, an estate valuer, the task of recovering significant tracts of lands and structures believed to belong to the Federal Government in 10 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The firm also hired a legal firm, M. E. Sheriff & Co, to act as its agent.
With a confidentiality agreement prohibiting them from disclosing the specifics of the job, Malami’s letter granting them the contract said that they would be entitled to three percent of the value of each successful recovery. The letter dated October 5, 2021 gave the contractors a 6-months period, to lapse in April 2022.
As many as 74 properties listed in the letter are located in high-brow areas in Lagos, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Cross-River, Abia, Anambra, Edo, Enugu, Imo and Delta States, and the FCT.
