ICPC charges El-Rufai’s former commissioner with money laundering

A former Kaduna State commissioner Nasir el-Rufai’s administration, Muhammad Sa’idu, is being taken to court for suspected money laundering by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency (ICPC).

According to TheCable, the Kaduna police arrested Sa’idu after receiving complaints that he might have misused public money.

An ICPC lawyer, Osuobeni Akponimisingha, filed the case on Tuesday at the federal high court in Kaduna.

Sa’idu worked in several important positions under former governor Nasir el-Rufai, including managing local government affairs, serving as chief of staff, and overseeing the state’s finances.

The ICPC says it’s not true that Sa’idu was cleared of wrongdoing after their 10-month investigation, contrary to what some had claimed.

Another person, Ibrahim Muktar, who works at the finance ministry, is also being charged alongside Sa’idu.

The case (No. FHC/KD/IC/2025) includes two main charges related to money laundering.

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“Sometime in March 2022 or thereabouts, Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Saidu, who at that time was commissioner of finance, did accept cash payment of the sum of N155m from one Ibrahim Muktar exceeding the amount authorised by law, which sum you received in cash through proxy to wit: Muazu Abdu, your Special Assistant and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section2(a) and punishable under the Section 19(d) of the Money Laundering(Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

The ICPC also alleged that within the same period, Saidu “indirectly took control of the sum of N155m received in cash for and on behalf of you by one Muazu Abdul from Ibrahim Muktar, which he reasonably ought to have known, formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity to wit: corruption and you hereby committed an offence contrary to section 18(2)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering(Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022”.

The anti-corruption agency points out that if found guilty, the law requires “imprisonment for a term of not less than four years but not more than fourteen years or a fine not less than five times the value of the proceeds of the crime or both.”