Court remands rural electrification director over alleged N223m fraud

The Director of Human Resources Management at the Rural Electrification Agency, Suleiman Bulkwang, has been remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre following his arraignment on charges of alleged money laundering involving N223,412,909.

Bulkwang was arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on five counts of criminal diversion of funds and money laundering.

The defendant pleaded “not guilty” to all charges.

The EFCC, in a statement on X, outlined the charges against Bulkwang.

Count one alleges: “That you, SULEIMAN GARBA BULKWANG, while being the Director of Human Resources Management of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did counsel one Umaefulem Donatus Chibueze, the Managing Director of Cees Assist Resources and Brainstask Value Resources (consultants to REA), to transfer the sum of N138,123,969 out of the N279,330,000 paid to the consultants by REA, when you knew 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 count two, 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, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, indirectly converted the sum of N45,000,000—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) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Act.”

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, presiding over the case, adjourned the matter to February 3, 2024, for the hearing of Bulkwang’s bail application.

Until then, the court ordered his remand at Kuje Correctional Centre.

According to the anti-graft agency, the case highlights ongoing efforts by the EFCC to tackle financial misconduct within public institutions.