TheCable

The Peoples Democratic Party board of trustees (PDPBoT) has removed Haliru Bello as its chairman.

The board directed Walid Jibril, its secretary, to act as chairman, pending the appointment of a substantive head.

Bello is a former comptroller-general of customs and one-time commissioner at the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him minister of communication in 2001, and he also served as the minister of defence under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

In 2008, he was national vice-chairman of the PDP in the northwest zone. He was also deputy national chairman of the party.

He is among those being prosecuted by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged complicity in the arms purchase scandal.

In December, the anti-graft agency arraigned Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser (NSA); Bashir Yuguda, former minister of state for finance, and Attahiru Bafarawa, former Sokoto state governor, at the federal capital territory high court, Abuja, for multiple counts of alleged criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of funds and money laundering.

Bello is alleged to have received N300m meant for the purchase of arms from Dasuki.