Supreme Court under probe over alleged N2.2bn fraud

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is set to examine the financial records of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 2009 till June 27, 2022, covering the administrations of six past Chief Justices of Nigeria, CJNs.

The chief justices who were at the helm of affairs for the period were Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu (2010-2011); Justice Dahiru Musdapher (2011-2012); Justice Aloma  Muhktar (2012-2014); Justice Mahmud Mohammed (2014-2016); Justice Walter Onnoghen (2017-2019) and Justice Ibrahim  Muhammad (2019-2022).

The wide task was informed by a petition dated May 30, 2022, authored by one Aliyu Mohammed purportedly on behalf of the concerned staff of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and addressed to the  Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa.

In the petition, the anti-graft agency was invited to unravel the jigsaw puzzle relating to the true ownership of a bank account domiciled at the United Bank for Africa with Account Number 2027642863 from which a cumulative sum of N2.2 billion allegedly belonging to the Supreme Court of Nigeria, was purportedly diverted into.

The probe is also to establish the source of monies that entered the said account during the period.

Besides, men of the EFCC are also expected to investigate the veracity of the allegation that the incumbent Executive Secretary of the National Judicial Council, NJC, Mr. Gambo Saleh, purportedly colluded with one Surajo, who is a staff of NJC and son of the immediate past Chief Justice Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, to sell a property occupied by a Justice of the Supreme Court without the knowledge of the immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko.

The committee has promised to announce a date for the assignment soon even as it promised to carry the media along in its assignment.

It is now history that the said memo led to the resignation of Justice Tanko from office on June 27, 2022.

The Petition by Aliyu Mohammed against Justice Tanko-led S’Court and Ahmed Gambo

Aliyu , in the petition, Mohammed called on the EFCC to carry out a forensic audit on the activities of both the Supreme Court of Nigeria, SCN and the National Judicial Council, NJC under the watch of Justice Tanko Muhammad.