Detectives have traced $3 million of the controversial London-Paris Club loan refund to a governor, The Nation reports.
The cash is believed to be part of the N19billion illegally deducted from the refund by the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), according to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) sources.
The cash has been found in the account of a member of the House of Representatives who got it through a proxy, the lawmaker’s brother. Both were not available for comments.
The $3million is being spent on building a 100-room hotel in Lagos, which the governor may forfeit to the Federal Government.
Also, the EFCC has placed a restriction on N8billion and $80million in the naira and dollar accounts of the NGF.
The Presidency has released N1. 266.44trillion to the 36 states in the past one year. The cash includes N713.70billion special intervention funds to states.
Following protests by states against over deduction for external debt service between 1995 and 2002, President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the release of N522.74 billion (first tranche) to states as refund pending reconciliation of records.
Each state was entitled to a cap of N14.5 billion being 25% of the amounts claimed.
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