Almost a year after his dismissal as the Managing Director of the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, Aliyu Abdlhameed has been arrested.
According to Daily Trust, Abdulhameed was removed from office amid allegations of corruption, notably involving a 2018 N5.6 billion wheat project intended for farmers in Kano and Jigawa States.
His ousting was sanctioned by the CBN Board, following approval from the Presidency in December the previous year.
In January of the same year, Daily Trust conducted an investigation into the alleged diversion of a multi-billion-naira loan, guaranteed by NIRSAL, for three investor companies set to cultivate 20,000 hectares of dry season wheat in Kano and Jigawa States.
This diversion was reportedly done in collaboration with NIRSAL officials.
During the investigation, journalists visited affected communities in both states, where farmers claimed they were misled.
Community leaders there mentioned promises of transforming the lives of 20,000 small holder farmers through the project.
However, despite making their land available, affected farmers alleged they never received the promised fertilizers and other inputs for the wheat plantation.
Both Abdulhameed and the three investor companies denied any wrongdoing.
However, when President Bola Tinubu appointed Special Investigator Jim Obazee and his team, led by DCP Eloho, to probe the activities of the apex bank and related entities in September of the current year, concerns arose within the top hierarchy of CBN and NIRSAL.
The investigation focused on NIRSAL and the CBN’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, subjects of ongoing scrutiny.
Multiple sources within and outside NIRSAL revealed that the former NIRSAL boss’s arrest occurred after a five-month manhunt conducted jointly by the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Police Force, and the Special Investigator.
A source familiar with Abdulhameed’s arrest stated that he was apprehended last week at the premises of a federal government revenue-generating agency in Abuja while allegedly lobbying for a reappointment.
“After turning down several invitations, the joint team eventually got hold of him on the premises of a popular government’s parastatal in Abuja where he was said to have gone to lobby either to return as NIRSAL MD or as the head of the Nigeria Agriculture Development Fund,” said the source who sought for identity protection due to the sensitive nature of the matter.
