Money Laundering: El-Rufai’s Ex-Chief Of Staff Sent Back To Prison

• Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu, former Chief of Staff to Nasiru El-Rufai, was denied bail in a money laundering case
• Sa’idu is accused of laundering N3.9 billion, allegedly selling state funds at an undervalued exchange rate, causing significant financial loss

Former Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasiru El-Rufai’s Chief of Staff, Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu, has been denied bail in a money laundering case by a state high court. He will remain in prison.

The court had deferred the verdict on Sa’idu’s bail plea until January 16, 2025. However, when the case was heard on Thursday, the former Chief of Staff was denied bail.

The court ruled on the plea for refusal of bail, citing the fact that a formal charge against Sa’idu had been filed at Kaduna State High Court II.

The judge directed the applicant to proceed to the court where the filed charge was pending to request for bail.

Kaduna State Director of Public Prosecution, Samson Irimiya (Esq), who represented the state government in court, told journalists that the former Chief of Staff’s arraignment would take place on January 21, 2025, before Justice Isa Aliyu.

Irimiya said, “The bail application ruling was delivered refusing the bail application principally on the ground that since a formal charge had been filed by us, the Applicant should go to the court where the charge is filed and pending to apply for bail.”

Counsel for Sai’du, Oladipo Tolani SAN, also confirmed that the court directed that they should take the bail application to the court where the proper charges had been filed.

Sa’idu, also a former Commissioner of Finance, was initially dragged to the state high court for money laundering.

A security source had disclosed to journalists that, “The former Chief of Staff sold 45 million US dollars in hard currency belonging to the Kaduna State Government, equivalent to N18.4 billion at the significantly undervalued rate of N410 per dollar. This was instead of the parallel market rate of N498 per dollar, with criminal intent, resulting in a N3.9 billion loss to the government in 2022.”

The prosecution further alleged that the N3.9 billion discrepancy was laundered by Sa’idu, in violation of Section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.