TheCable

Bashir Jamoh, the director-general of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate N1.5 trillion fraud allegation levelled against him.

Jamoh has been accused by one Jackson Ude of alleged corruption.

In a series of tweets, Ude had accused Jamoh of diverting N1.5 trillion into his personal accounts.

Ude also alleged that Jamoh diverted another $9.5 million to a different account traced to him.

“Bashir Jamoh, DG of NIMASA has told his friends he doesn’t know anything about N1.5tn in any account. And that all the story is a lie and fake news. When I wake up, I will drop his receipt. He just ate the bait,” Ude wrote in one of the tweets.

In a letter addressed to the EFCC chairman on Tuesday, Jamoh asked the agency to conduct a “thorough and painstaking” investigation into the allegations.

He said the probe will unravel the truth and put the record straight in the public domain.

“I write to bring to your attention the attached online publications and tweets that have gone viral since Friday 21 of May 2021,” the letter reads.

“The publications emanated from a series of tweets of one Jackson Ude alleging the sums of N1.5tn and another US$9,557,312.50 were traced to my personal account.

“The allegation of money laundering which impugns my integrity, character and family name has been circulating on social media also suggested that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria be invited by security agencies to give reasons why such huge sums of money were transferred to my personal account instead of the Treasury Single Account.

“In view of this weighty allegation and the insidious and perniciously damaging effect on the government and the country, I hereby request that a thorough and painstaking investigation be carried by your commission with a view to unravelling the truth or accuracy of the allegation. This is to put the record straight in the public domain, please.”