EFCC Begin Investigation into APC, PDP Officials for Money Laundering

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is investigating the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for possible money laundering through accounts in two Abuja banks.

It’s unclear whether the probe is linked to the parties’ continuing nomination processes, which have seen large sums of money flow into their accounts.

What is  money laundering?

Money laundering is the practice of disguising the source of unlawfully obtained funds through legitimate commercial transactions. The Money Laundering Prohibition Act (2011) is the primary law governing money laundering in Nigeria.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is Nigeria’s principal government organization for investigating and prosecuting money laundering violations (EFCC).

According to PREMIUM TIMES, hundreds of aspirants in both parties have purchased expressions of interest and nomination forms for various offices as the parties prepare for their primaries to choose candidates for the 2023 general election.

The exercises have produced several billions of naira for the country’s two major political parties, with around 28 presidential hopefuls paying N100 million apiece for APC forms as of Wednesday, and 17 of their PDP counterparts spending N40 million each.

The probe, according to the letters, covers three Access Bank accounts belonging to the APC (0692988080, 0035644896, and 0044183689), one owned by the PDP’s National Secretariat (0054586830), and three owned by Umbrella Trust Ltd. (0076600091, 0066988655 and 0068595990).

One account belongs to the APC (1771444115), two to the PDP (1140060876 and 1770319690), and four to the PDP Fund Raising Dinner (1771643176,177647521, 177164514 and 1771647507) at Polaris Bank” .

Mr Wetkas wrote:

“The Commission is investigating a case in which the above-mentioned account names and numbers featured.

“In view of the above, you are kindly requested to forward the certified true copies of the following:

a. Account opening packages/mandate cards.

b. Statement of account from January 2021 to date (hard and soft copies). The soft copy should be copied to excel format and forwarded to [email protected]

c. Certificate of identification pursuant to Section 84(4) of the Evidence Act. 2011 (The certifying officer should include his full name, designation, signature and date on each page).

d. Any other relevant information that could assist the investigation.

“The request is made pursuant to Section 38(1) 8(2) of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act 2021 and Section of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2021 as amended.”

Wilson Uwujaren, the commission’s spokesperson, declined to comment on the news, claiming that he had not been briefed.

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