Identity Of Ex-Female Minister Who Allegedly Owns N2.5bn In Housemaid’s Account Revealed

The identity of a former female minister who allegedly owns the N2.5bn traced to the account of her housemaid has been revealed.

Earlier report did not name the said minister, but a report by SaharaReporters revealed that former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, who is now a senator representing Anambra State in the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the unnamed ex-female minister.

According to the report, two EFCC sources confirmed that the bank account and its huge deposits had been opened and operated without the knowledge of the former minister’s housemaid. “Senator Oduah apparently opened the account with her housemaid’s name, image, and details without the housemaid knowing about it,” said one EFCC agent familiar with the scandal.

Another EFCC source the report said confirmed that Ms. Oduah had been going around to some top officials of the Muhammadu Buhari administration seeking their help to scuttle her impending trial. Last week, she asked for a meeting with EFCC chairman Ibrahim Magu, claiming she wanted to meet in her official capacity as a senator.

The two EFCC sources who spoke on the “housemaid” account disclosed that Ms. Oduah was the sole signatory to the account, adding that they were still connecting the dots to uncover how the ex-Aviation Minister managed to pull off such a money laundering operation.

“As of last week, the account was still active and contained over N2.5 billion,” said one EFCC source. He added that he could not ascertain whether the EFCC chairman, who is currently traveling in Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj, had ordered the freezing of the account.

One of our EFCC sources revealed that the discovery of the “maid” account meant that the former minister must have stolen as much as N5.6 billion so far from the Aviation Ministry’s funds during her ministerial term.

It was earlier reported that EFCC investigators had so far determined that Ms. Oduah split N3.6 billion that she acquired illegally among eight companies.

In August 2015, Ms. Oduah filed an application at a Federal High Court to stop the EFCC from investigating allegations that she bought two ostensibly bulletproof BMW cars at $1.6 million, or $800,000 apiece. A controversial judge, Justice Mohammed Yunusa, initially granted the order sought by Senator Oduah. However, in February 2016, after Justice Yunusa was transferred out of Lagos, another federal high court judge vacated the order, permitting the EFCC to carry on with its investigation.