Nigerian musician, Oladapo Oyebanji, popularly known as D’banj will remain in the custody of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over a fresh discovery of 20,000 ghost workers infused into the N-Power Programme.
The anti-graft agency detained D’banj on Tuesday over fraud allegations involving the N-Power Programme.
It was reported how top government officials introduced over 70,000 ghost workers into the N-Power Programme and fraudulently diverted billions of naira into their pockets.
70,000 names were infused into N-Power by officials of the Buhari regime in the last four years with the he fake list costs Nigeria N2.1 billion per year while original N-Power candidates are left unpaid,” as reported by SaharaReporters.
The online publication also reports that top government officials in President Buhari’s government have been using cronies to siphon funds under the social intervention programmes.
Another report says that ICPC would release D’banj on Wednesday night after failing to successfully link the musician to the fraudulent activities in the N-Power Programme.
However, it is reported that the investigators discovered a fresh list containing over 20,000 ghost names, tagged “D’banj’s list.”
The names were allegedly used to divert over N600 million monthly for over two years by government officials in connivance with the Nigerian musician.
D’banj howver reportedly refuted the allegation and denied any knowledge of the list.
After almost 72 hours in custody, famous singer and songwriter Oladapo Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’banj, has been released by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
D’banj was reportedly released on Friday afternoon and that the ICPC might summon him later.
His lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, told Premium Times that the singer cooperated with the Commission during its investigation.
Mr Olajengbesi said D’banj was released on self-recognition but didn’t confirm if the ICPC granted the singer administrative bail.
He also said the ICPC didn’t trace any evidence of fraudulent activity to the singer. That claim could however not be independently verified at this time.
“Nothing incriminating was found on him. He was released on self-recognition. Right now, we expect the ICPC to give a letter of clearance to Dbanj because, as we have always said, he is innocent of the charges brought against him,” the lawyer said.
It is however teported that two Nigerian banks have submitted voluminous financial statements to the anti-graft agency in relation to the matter.
