Court Remands Rural Electrification Director In Kuje Prison Over Alleged Million-Naira Fraud

Court Remands Rural Electrification Director In Kuje Prison Over Alleged Million-Naira FraudSuleiman Bulkwang, the Director of Human Resources Management at the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), has been remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre following his arraignment on charges of alleged money laundering involving ₦223,412,909. Bulkwang appeared before a Federal High Court in Abuja, where the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed five counts against him, accusing him of criminal diversion of funds and money laundering.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Bulkwang pleaded “not guilty” to all charges. In a statement on X, the EFCC outlined the specific allegations against him.

The first charge accuses Bulkwang, while serving as REA’s Director of Human Resources, of instructing Umaefulem Donatus Chibueze, Managing Director of Cees Assist Resources and Brainstask Value Resources (consultants to REA), to transfer ₦138,123,969 from the ₦279,330,000 paid to the consultants by REA. The second charge claims that Bulkwang converted ₦45,000,000 of the funds paid to various bank accounts linked to REA consultants, knowing the money was part of illicit proceeds.

The EFCC’s first count states: “That you, Suleiman Garba Bulkwang, while being the Director of Human Resources Management of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), did counsel one Umaefulem Donatus Chibueze, Managing Director of Cees Assist Resources and Brainstask Value Resources (consultants to REA), to transfer the sum of ₦138,123,969 out of the ₦279,330,000 paid to the consultants by REA, knowing that the said sum constituted proceeds of unlawful activity. You thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21(a) of the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022 and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.”

In the second count, the EFCC alleges: “That you, Suleiman Garba Bulkwang, while being the Director of Human Resources Management of the Rural Electrification Agency, sometime in July 2023 in Abuja, did indirectly convert the sum of ₦45,000,000—part of the money cumulatively paid to the bank accounts of Dammy Gold Programme Ltd, World Class Business, Green Haven Company, and De-Sam Rose-Base Ltd by consultants to REA—when you knew that the said sum constituted proceeds of unlawful activity. You thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(b) of the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Act, punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.”

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who is overseeing the case, adjourned proceedings until February 3, 2024, for a hearing on Bulkwang’s bail application. In the meantime, the court ordered that Bulkwang be held at the Kuje Correctional Centre.

The EFCC emphasized that the case highlights its continued efforts to tackle financial misconduct within public institutions.

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