Adamu Aliyu, a serving member of the Plateau State House of Assembly, has surrenderrd and is being quizzed by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). Mr Aliyu surrendered himself at the commissions headquarters in Abuja on Monday, September 15, days after Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court declared him wanted at the request of the ICPC, Premium Times reports. The judge issued the order after investigators told the court that the lawmaker had ignored invitations to answer questions on fraud allegations. Recall that Mohammed Jidda, a businessman, had filed a petition accusing Mr Aliyu of swindling him under the guise of facilitating a Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) contract at the University of Jos worth N850 million. Mr Aliyu, who represents Jos North-North constituency, allegedly entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mr Jidda, under which the businessman was to pay about N73.6 million should he be awarded the contract. The payment included N52 million to be paid to a company, Imanal Concept Ltd, purportedly as a facilitation fee. Investigators said Mr Aliyu later presented Mr Jidda with what turned out to be a forged contract award letter from the University of Jos for the construction of an indoor sports hall valued at N500 million. On the strength of the letter, Mr Jidda transferred the agreed sum into two bank accounts allegedly provided by the lawmaker. But when Mr Jidda approached the University of Jos to begin contract documentation, the institution denied issuing such a contract. The school later confirmed in writing to the ICPC that the award letter was a forgery. Bank records obtained by the commission show that N47.8 million was paid into Mr Aliyus personal account, N22.4 million went into Imanal Concept Ltds Zenith Bank account, while an additional N3.2 million was transferred directly to the lawmaker. Despite repeated invitations, including messages routed through the Clerk of the Plateau Assembly and even his WhatsApp line, Mr Aliyu allegedly failed to present himself to investigators until he was declared wanted. The ICPC further told the court it had credible intelligence that he was planning to flee Nigeria to evade prosecution.
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