hehehehe....The identity of a former female minister who allegedly owns the N2.5bn traced to the account of her housemaid has been revealed.
Earlier report did not name the said minister, but a report by SaharaReporters revealed that former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, who is now a senator representing Anambra State in the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the unnamed ex-female minister.
According to the report, two EFCC sources confirmed that the bank account and its huge deposits had been opened and operated without the knowledge of the former minister’s housemaid.
“Senator Oduah apparently opened the account with her housemaid’s name, image, and details without the housemaid knowing about it,” said one EFCC agent familiar with the scandal.
Another EFCC source the report said confirmed that Ms. Oduah had been going around to some top officials of the Muhammadu Buhari administration seeking their help to scuttle her impending trial. Last week, she asked for a meeting with EFCC chairman Ibrahim Magu, claiming she wanted to meet in her official capacity as a senator.
The two EFCC sources who spoke on the “housemaid” account disclosed that Ms. Oduah was the sole signatory to the account, adding that they were still connecting the dots to uncover how the ex-Aviation Minister managed to pull off such a money laundering operation.
“As of last week, the account was still active and contained over N2.5 billion,” said one EFCC source.
He added that he could not ascertain whether the EFCC chairman, who is currently traveling in Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj, had ordered the freezing of the account.
EFCC sources revealed that the discovery of the “maid” account meant that the former minister must have stolen as much as N5.6 billion so far from the Aviation Ministry’s funds during her ministerial term.
It was earlier reported that EFCC investigators had so far determined that Ms. Oduah split N3.6 billion that she acquired illegally among eight companies.
However, Stella Oduah has reacted to the reports, calling them “totally false, baseless and at best the imagination of the platform.”
In the statement, signed by Francisca Onyeisi, head of communications, Ms. Oduah said that if the reports were true, she would have been arrested long before now, especially at a time when the EFCC is “freezing accounts and going after opposition governors who enjoy same level of immunity as the president.”
The former minister, therefore, urged her supporters and the general public to ignore the reports, saying she had “made a mark in oil and gas and Agricultural businesses before joining politics.”
Ms. Oduah was removed from office in February 2014 after she was found to have received armoured BMW cars, worth N255million, from an agency she supervised.
The attention of Senator Stella Oduah representing Anambra North Senatorial District has been drawn to another malicious and fictitious rumour by online tabloid Sahara Reporters that a non existent source in Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have discovered the sum of N2.5 Billion Naira in an account opened in the name of unnamed housemaid of Senator Stella Oduah.
We
will like to state unequivocally that this report is totally false,
baseless and at best the imagination of the platform who is only set out
to extort and blackmail leaders in its continuous attempt by their
paymasters to break the rank of Senators of the 8th Assembly.
Over
the past few months, the once respected online platform, Sahara
Reporters has continued to surpass itself by continuously sinking to an
all time low of posting uncorroborated reports to mislead Nigerians to
promote the agenda of certain elements who's fight against corruption
can only been seen on pages of newspaper and pockets of their media
spinners while millions of Nigerians remain unemployed and hundreds of
thousands of kids go to bed hungry day in day out.
The
online platform claimed their sources in EFCC said a whopping 5.6
billion must have been stolen, then went further to contradict itself
that the agency had determined it was 3.6 Billion then again reduced it
to 2.5 billion in the same publication. The distinguish Senator laments
the despicable low that Sahara Reporters has drawn the reputable
profession of journalism too which unfortunately unsuspecting platforms
will copy and paste on theirs without even lifting a pen to confirm the
story. Senator further went to challenge if truly such account exists as
claimed by the online platform and it is still operational and she not
the so called housemaid have not been called in for questioning when the
agency is freezing accounts and going after opposition governors who
enjoy same level of immunity as the president.
Senator
Stella Oduah who made a name for herself during her tenure as a
minister instituting serious reforms in the aviation sector and in last
one year as a Distinguish Senator has raised series of important Bills
and Motions to help strengthen the Nigerian Economy and our institutions
reiterated that at no time did she ask or try to meet with the EFCC
Chairman
Senator
Stella Oduah who is currently in her constituency thanked her
supporters and well wishers who have reached out to vent their
frustrations at the unethical behavior of the tabloid assured them that
there is nothing to worry about, restating that no such accounts exist
and challenged Sahara reporters to present details of their funding and
how the platform is able to afford a property in choice area of Maitama
in Abuja
The
attention of Senator Stella Oduah who represents Anambra North
Senatorial District has been draw to another malicious and fictitious
rumour by online tabloid Sahara Reporters that a non-existent source in
the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has discovered the sum
of N2.5 Billion in an account opened in the name of an unnamed housemaid
of Senator Stella Oduah.
We
would like to state unequivocally that this report is totally false,
baseless and at best the imagination of the platform who is only set out
to extort and blackmail leaders in its continuous attempt by their
paymasters to break the rank of Senators of the 8th Assembly.
Over
the past few months, the once respected online platform, Sahara
Reporters has continued to surpass itself by continuously sinking to an
all time low of posting uncorroborated reports to mislead Nigerians to
promote the agenda of certain elements who's fight against corruption
can only been seen on pages of newspaper and pockets of their media
spinners while millions of Nigerians remain unemployed and hundreds of
thousands of kids go to bed hungry day in day out.
The
online platform claimed their sources in the EFCC said a whopping N5.6
billion must have been stolen, then went further to contradict itself
that the agency had determined it was N3.6 billion then again reduced it
to N2.5 billion in the same publication. The distinguish Senator
laments the despicable low that Sahara Reporters has drawn the reputable
profession of journalism too which unfortunately unsuspecting platforms
will copy and paste on theirs without even lifting a pen to confirm the
story.
Recast:
Senator further went to challenge if truly such an account exists as
claimed by the online platform and it is still operational and she not
the so called housemaid have not been called in for questioning when the
agency is freezing accounts and going after opposition governors who
enjoy same level of immunity as the president.
We
also want to state that while the online platform, well known for its
penchant lies and spurious allegations may have made another calculated
attempt to taint the enviable record and achievements of the
distinguished Senator who had made a mark in Oil/Gas and Agricultural
businesses before joining politics, we therefore challenge Sahara
Reporters to produce evidence of the imaginary account of the supposed
housemaid to members of the public.
Senator
Stella Oduah who made a name for herself during her tenure as a
minister instituting serious reforms in the aviation sector and in last
one year as a Distinguish Senator has raised series of important Bills
and Motions to help strengthen the Nigerian Economy and our institutions
reiterated that at no time did she ask or try to meet with the EFCC
Chairman
Senator
Stella Oduah who is currently in her constituency thanked her
supporters and well wishers who have reached out to vent their
frustrations at the unethical behavior of the tabloid assured them that
there is nothing to worry about, restating that no such account exist
and challenged Sahara reporters to present details of their funding and
how the platform is able to afford a property in choice area of Maitama
in Abuja.
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