₦311bn Laundering: ICPC Drags El-Rufai’s Associate to Court 

₦311bn Laundering: ICPC Drags El-Rufai’s Associate to Court

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arraigned Muhammad Bashir Saidu, a former Chief of Staff to Nasir El-Rufai, over allegations of money laundering.

He was brought before a Federal High Court in Kaduna on a two-count charge involving the illegal handling of N155 million in cash.

The prosecution alleges that Saidu accepted the funds through a proxy from Ibrahim Mukhtar, a public officer in the state’s Ministry of Finance, in violation of the Money Laundering Act.

This amount is part of a broader investigation into the alleged misappropriation of state funds during the El-Rufai administration.

This legal action follows a report by the Kaduna State House of Assembly, which claimed that over N423 billion was siphoned or mismanaged through various contracts and loans between 2015 and 2023. Other high-ranking associates, including former advisers and commissioners, have also faced questioning and separate charges.

While the ICPC continues its crackdown on the former governor’s inner circle, El-Rufai has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated.

The court has granted Saidu bail under strict conditions, and the trial is set to continue as the commission seeks to recover the missing state assets.