By Pascal Ibe
The ex minister of finance , Nenadi Usman who was prosecuted for money laundering in 2016 and 2022, emerged chairman of the Labour Party’s 29-man caretaker committee on Wednesday.
Nenadi Esther Usman was appointed Nigeria’s minister of state for finance and later the minister of finance by the Obasanjo administration, from 2006—2007.
The crisis within the Labour Party (LP) deepened on Wednesday as the party’s sole governor, Dr. Alex Otti of Abia State, and its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, joined other members in electing former Finance Minister Mrs. Nenadi Usman as the caretaker chairman of the party.
The meeting took place at the Banquet Hall of the Abia Government House in Umuahia, the state capital. Convened by Governor Otti, the meeting was attended by key figures, including Peter Obi and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, among others.
Nenadi Usman was unanimously nominated to chair the newly constituted LP caretaker committee. This committee will oversee the conduct of state congresses and the all-inclusive national convention.
Money laundering Scandal in 2016
In 2016, two former Nigerian ministers were charged with theft of over 4.9 billion naira ($17.4 million) of government funds and money laundering, the financial crimes agency said.
The EFCC said the pair, along with a company, faced a “17-count charge” in which they were accused of conspiracy, stealing and corruption.
“The accused were alleged to have stolen and illegally disbursed about 4.9 billion naira belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria for political and personal uses,” said EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren.
In 2022
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, January 24, 2022, re-arraigned Nenadi Esther Usman, a former Minister of Finance; Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation; Yusuf Danjuma, a former National Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) and a company, Joint-Trust Dimensions Nigeria Limited, on a 17-count charge bordering on conspiracy and unlawful retention to the tune of N1,500,000,000.00( One Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira) before Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos.
One of the count reads: “ That you, Nnenadi Esther Usman, Femi Fani-Kayode, Danjuma Yusuf and Jointrust Dimensions Nigeria Ltd., on or about the 8th day of January, 2015, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court in Lagos, conspired amongst yourselves to indirectly retain the sum of N1,500, 000,000.00 (One Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira), which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act to wit: stealing, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition)(Amendment) Act, 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) & 4 of the same Act.” The defendants pleaded “not guilty” to the 17-count charge.
Abuse Camp Says LP Meeting Conveyed By Abia Gov Is Illega
The National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Julius Abure, rejected the meeting of the party convened by Abia governor, Dr Alex Otti, in Umuahia, saying it is unconstitutional.
According to Abure, Otti and others who converged in Umuahia have no power within the party’s constitution, the Electoral Act or the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to convene any meeting.
