A Federal High Court in Abuja has declared Adamu Aliyu, a sitting member of the Plateau State House of Assembly, wanted over allegations that he defrauded a businessman of ₦73.6 million in a fake Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) contract deal, according to PREMIUM TIMES.
The declaration followed a request from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) after the lawmaker reportedly failed to respond to multiple invitations concerning the allegations.
The controversy began when businessman Mohammed Jidda petitioned the ICPC, accusing Mr. Aliyu of promising to secure an ₦850 million TETFund contract at the University of Jos.
Based on this promise, Aliyu and Jidda reportedly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under which Jidda agreed to pay ₦73.6 million in advance once the contract award letter was issued.
The MoU also specified an additional payment of ₦52 million to Imanal Concept Ltd, a company owned by one Saad Abubakar, identified by Aliyu as the “facilitator of the deal.”
Jidda claimed that Aliyu later presented him with a contract award letter supposedly from the University of Jos for the construction of an indoor sports hall, valued at ₦500 million.
Believing it to be authentic, Jidda transferred funds into two accounts provided by Aliyu: his GTBank personal account and Imanal Concept Ltd’s Zenith Bank account, totaling ₦73.6 million.
However, when Jidda approached the university to commence the project documentation, officials informed him that no such contract existed.
The University of Jos later confirmed in writing to the ICPC that the contract letter was indeed forged.
Investigations revealed that ₦47.8 million was deposited into Aliyu’s GTBank account, ₦22.4 million went to Imanal Concept Ltd, and an additional ₦3.2 million was paid directly to the lawmaker.
The ICPC, citing intelligence that Mr. Aliyu was planning to abandon his duties and flee the country, applied to the court for authorization to declare him wanted.
Justice Emeka Nwite granted the request on Friday, issuing a warrant for Aliyu’s arrest and authorizing the publication of a “wanted person” notice in national newspapers and on social media.
The ruling also empowers law enforcement agencies and even private citizens to arrest Mr. Aliyu and hand him over to the ICPC.
Reacting to the development in a conversation with PREMIUM TIMES on Friday evening, Aliyu denied any wrongdoing.
He stated that he was unaware of the ICPC’s summons until he was informed by the Clerk of the Plateau Assembly while he was in Saudi Arabia.
“I was unaware of the ICPC’s invitation,” he said, adding that he had already refunded ₦45 million that was paid into his account through Jidda’s company, Mohiba Investment Ltd.
He provided evidence of refunds made in four separate tranches: ₦5 million, ₦10 million, ₦10 million, and ₦20 million — all paid into Mohiba’s Zenith Bank account.
Aliyu also distanced himself from the alleged forgery.
“My role was limited to only delivering the letter to Mr. Jidda,” he stated, insisting that Saad Abubakar was responsible for producing the forged contract document.
