The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has concluded arrangements to arraign the Chairman of the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC), Professor Sani Lawan Malumfashi, over his alleged involvement in a ₦1.02 billion money laundering scheme.
Also named in the charge are the Commission’s Secretary, Mr. Anas Muhammed Mustapha, and the Deputy Director of the Accounts Department, Mr. Ado Garba.
The trio will appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday, July 21, 2025.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday by ICPC spokesperson, Demola Bakare, who revealed that the commission’s investigation uncovered a conspiracy by the accused to carry out large-scale illegal cash transactions between November and December 2024.
According to the charge sheet, KANSIEC under Malumfashi’s leadership transferred ₦1.02 billion from its Unity Bank account to a private firm, SLM Agro Global Farm, which reportedly had no contractual relationship with the Commission.
The accused officials claimed the funds were meant to raise cash for paying ad hoc staff used during local government elections.
They further claimed that the full amount was returned to KANSIEC in cash by the company.
However, the ICPC stated that the investigation contradicted this explanation.
“ICPC further revealed that while the defendants in the statements they volunteered argued that the transfers made to SLM AgroGlobal were made with the intention to raise cash needed to pay the adhoc-staff that participated in the local government election in the state, and that the firm returned all such transfers to KANSIEC in cash,” the statement noted.
Bakare said that evidence obtained during the investigation showed otherwise.
One such document was a letter from KANSIEC addressed to the Manager of Unity Bank, Zoo Road, Kano, requesting a payment of ₦59.4 million via cheque, along with a list of 468 Electoral Officers and 42 Assistant Electoral Officers, complete with their bank details for payment.
“Investigation however revealed otherwise as a letter from the defendant addressed to the Manager, Unity Bank, Zoo Road, Kano detailed where in they requested transfer payment of the sum of N59, 400, 000.00 attached with a cheque of same amount and a list of 468 Electoral Officers and 42 Assistance Electoral Officers’ bank details for payment through the banking system.
“This request, according to ICPC, was honoured by the bank, and the beneficiaries, one and all, got their payments.”
He added that the suspects’ justification that bank transfers would be too slow to facilitate timely payments was unconvincing and merely a cover-up.
“Their claim that the banking system or transfers would have been too slow to accommodate their requests in the case of ad hoc staff was found to be a mere conjecture, a screen to hide corruption and a lame excuse to justify the offence of money laundering,” the statement read.
ICPC also questioned a ₦20 million expenditure allegedly allocated for candidate verification during the 2024 local government elections.
According to the agency, the Commission’s official budget (erroneously titled “Operation Budget 2025 Elections”) indicated that ₦20 million was set aside for screening candidates across Kano’s 484 wards and 44 local government areas.
However, investigations showed that all candidate screenings were conducted at the Commission’s headquarters in Kano, and candidates bore the cost of travel.
“The Commission added that its investigation further revealed that though the budget for the 2024 Election presented to the investigating officers (wrongly headed ‘Operation Budget 2025 Elections’) has the amount of N20, 000, 000.00 budgeted for the Team to conduct screening/verification of the candidates across 484 Wards and 44 Local Governments of Kano State, However, all the candidates were screened/verified in the Commission’s office in Kano.
“The Team did not travel out of Kano and the candidates made it to KANSIEC office in Kano at their own expense, yet the 3rd Defendant in his statement to the ICPC investigating officers stated that the entire budget of N20 million was given in cash to the KANSIEC Members who constitute the screening/verification team,” the statement added.
