The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Tersoo Loko, former chairman of the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC), and 10 other defendants over an alleged N1.1 billion fraud.
The other defendants are Kuleve Terlumun, Mtomga Manasseh,
Ugbede Denen, Tatyough Thaddeus, Angwa Dominic, Uwua Igbawua, Adese Asom Orkuma
Emmanuel, Owoicho Odeh, and Mhir Iyenge.
The defendants were brought before the federal high court in
Makurdi, the Benue state capital, on a 30-count charge of criminal
misappropriation of public funds and money laundering.
M.S. Yusuf, counsel to the EFCC, told the court that the
charges stemmed from allegations that Loko diverted funds released for the
conduct of the 2020 and 2022 LG elections in Benue state.
According to the prosecution, the electoral commission
received N1.6 billion for the two polls, but only N565 million was reportedly
used for the exercise, leaving N1.1 billion unaccounted for.
Yusuf alleged that Loko, while serving as BSIEC chairman,
personally received several cash payments from the commission and diverted the
funds for private use.
He said Loko allegedly took N118 million in cash in 2020 and
another N110.9 million in 2022, both recorded as payments to him by the
commission.
The prosecution said the alleged acts contravene provisions
of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, as amended.
When the charges were read, all the defendants pleaded not
guilty.
Following the pleas, Yusuf asked the court for a date to
enable the prosecution to open its case.
In a ruling, M.S. Abubakar, the presiding judge, granted
bail to the defendants in the sum of N50 million each with one surety in like
sum.
The judge directed that the sureties must possess valid
international passports and ordered the defendants to deposit their passports
with the court registrar.
He adjourned the case to April 24 for hearing and ordered
that the defendants be remanded pending the perfection of their bail
conditions. atives that portray Nigeria’s security challenges as genocide
against a particular religion or group, warning that such claims could deepen
mistrust and polarisation.
He called for honesty, balance, and responsibility in public
discourse to safeguard national stability.
“The council unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its
forms and demands that the government fulfil its constitutional duty to protect
every Nigerian life through both security action and peaceful reconciliation,
including the aggrieved victims,” he said.
“The Council categorically rejects the premeditated false
and inflammatory propaganda of a ‘Christian genocide’ narrative and warns that
dishonest public discourse fuels division, mistrust, and national instability.”
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