Mr Christian Nwosu, a former official of the Independent national electoral commission(INEC) shocked a Lagos federal high court on Friday when he revealed that officials of the Economic and financial crimes commission, EFCC, forced him to admit receiving N30 million from embattled former petroleum minister, Diezani Allison Madueke.
Mr Nwosu, a former admin secretary of the electoral commission also claimed the EFCC coerced him into forfeiting N5 million cash and his property worth N30 million.
He told the Justice Mohammed Idris that an EFCC official named Zakari Usman threatened to detain him if he didn’t write a testimony he(Usman) would like to hear.
Quoting him;
“On the 28 of December, I was invited to EFCC, interviewed by one Mr Moses and I made statements. He was about to let me go but he said his boss will want to see me. When Mr Zakari came and read my statement, he said no, I have not written what he wants to hear and that he has signed my detention order form and was going to detain me and that even if I bring 10 lawyers, they won’t help me except I write what he dictates to me, he was going to keep me.
He told me that Adedoyin had admitted collecting N28million and was released; that being a senior officer, there was no way I wouldn’t not have benefitted by collecting up to N30million (sic). He said unless I stated that I benefitted N30million, he would dump me in the cell. I quickly told him I benefitted. He dictated to me that I should write it; I did.
I knelt before Rotimi and he said: ‘Baba get up; I’ll only advice you to cooperate with us. He said he would not want me to go through the stress of litigation. He asked if I had landed property and cars. He said I should write out the property worth N30million that I had. He said he would ensure that I was convicted and jailed at all cost if I didn’t cooperate.”
