By Abiola Olawale
Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu, a former Chief of Staff to the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has allegedly implicated the former governor of Kaduna State in an ongoing money laundering case.
It would be recalled that Sa’idu, who also served as Commissioner of Finance during El-Rufai’s administration, was arrested in December 2024 and arraigned on charges relating to an alleged sale of $45 million funds belonging to the Kaduna State Government.
Sa’idu was accused of selling the funds at an undervalued rate of ₦410 per dollar, instead of the parallel market rate of ₦498 per dollar at the time, leading to a significant financial loss to the state.
This incident allegedly took place in 2022 when Sa’idu served as the Commissioner of Finance under El-Rufai’s administration. The charges allege that the funds were laundered in violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
However, reports emerging on Friday revealed that Sa’idu, in his confessional statement after he was arrested reportedly stated that the decision regarding currency conversion was not his but directed by El-Rufai.
Sa’idu was alleged to have told the police that it was El-Rufai who oversaw the bidding process and often chose lower bids over higher ones.
Sa’idu was quoted to have said: “The procedure for currency conversion was not the decision of the commissioner of finance but that of his excellency, the then governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El Rufai. Whenever the need arose to convert funds to naira, the Governor would direct how much to convert. Bids from various buyers were obtained, and in most cases, the bids I forwarded to His Excellency for approval were higher than those available in the parallel market.”
This comes as El-Rufai is facing allegations of embezzlement, abuse of office, and money laundering during his tenure as governor from 2015 to 2023.
The Kaduna State House of Assembly had set up an ad hoc committee to investigate finances, loans, and contracts awarded under his administration.
Following an investigation, the committee recommended a probe into El-Rufai for abuse of office and money laundering, citing the misappropriation of N423 billion and leaving the state with significant debt.
However, El-Rufai responded by filing a lawsuit against the Kaduna State House of Assembly, challenging the findings of the committee and alleging defamation of character.
He publicly denied these allegations, asserting his integrity. He also accused these probes of being politically motivated.
