EFCC To Arraign Oronsaye In Court Monday On Alleged ‘Stealing’
The embattled former Head of Service (HOS) of the Federation, Steve Oronsaye will on Monday be arraigned before Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
According to reliable sources, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has completed plans to arraign Oronsaye alongside two others, on a 24-count charge of stealing and obtaining by false pretence.
Oronsaye who was recently arrested and detained by the anti-graft agency over allegations of corruption, ran into fresh trouble when new allegations emerged that he was engaged in theft and money laundering.
The former Head of Service and other top directors of the Nigerian civil service were alleged to have colluded to defraud the nation of N6.2 billion pension fund allegedly stolen through a maze of bogus contracts.
The contracts which were meant for biometric enrolment and payment for computer accessories were never supplied.
Almost N6 billion in fake contracts were alleged to have been awarded and paid for under Oronsaye’s supervision. Innovative Solutions and Project Limited, a company allegedly handpicked by Oronsaye, received a contract of N63 million for biometric data capture.
The contract, according to reports, served as a conduit through which three individuals and five companies got N705, 368,245.
Other companies which had no contract to participate in the biometric data capture exercise but were paid include Frederick Hamilton Global Limited, who received N119,398,500; Xangee Technologies got N153,146,719; Fatidek Venture received N30,056,000; while Obanlado Enterprises was paid N96,765,400.00.
The EFCC was also said to have uncovered how Phina Chidi, a Deputy Director in the Pension Account at the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, OHCSF, had given a written statement to the commission in January, 2011, disclosing to the anti-graft agency how she was made to shop for companies that would execute contracts and make returns to Oronsaye.
Individuals who were alleged to have benefitted from the string of payments, allegedly made on the eve of Oronsaye’s retirement as Head of Service, include Kate Chinwe Obiekwe, Ibrahim Abdulkarim and Mohammed Abdullahi Ahmed, officials of the OHCSF who were paid N56,612,585.00, N80,108,640.00 and N23,760.00 respectively
