Kano electoral boss, officials face N1bn money laundering charges

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is set to arraign the Chairman of the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC), Professor Sani Lawan Malumfashi, over allegations of laundering over N1 billion.

The Commission has also lined up charges against two other top officials: the Secretary of KANSIEC, Mr. Anas Muhammed Mustapha, and Mr. Ado Garba, a Deputy Director in the Commission’s Accounts Department. All three are scheduled to appear before a Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday, July 21, 2025.

ICPC spokesperson, Demola Bakare, revealed in a Friday statement that the anti-graft agency’s investigations found the accused allegedly carried out illicit cash transactions between November and December 2024 in breach of financial protocols and anti-corruption laws.

Court filings allege that KANSIEC, under Malumfashi’s leadership, transferred a total of N1.02 billion from its Unity Bank account to a company known as SLM Agro Global Farm, which reportedly had no formal contract or engagement with the Commission.

The defendants claimed the funds were meant to be converted to cash to pay ad hoc staff involved in Kano’s local government elections and that SLM Agro Global returned the full amount in cash to KANSIEC.

However, Bakare stated the investigation painted a different picture.

“ICPC further revealed that while the defendants in the statements they volunteered argued that the transfers made to SLM AgroGlobal were made with the intention to raise cash needed to pay the adhoc-staff that participated in the local government election in the state, and that the firm returned all such transfers to KANSIEC in cash.

“Investigation however revealed otherwise as a letter from the defendant addressed to the Manager, Unity Bank, Zoo Road, Kano detailed where in they requested transfer payment of the sum of N59, 400, 000.00 attached with a cheque of same amount and a list of 468 Electoral Officers and 42 Assistance Electoral Officers’ bank details for payment through the banking system.

“This request, according to ICPC, was honoured by the bank, and the beneficiaries, one and all, got their payments.

“Their claim that the banking system or transfers would have been too slow to accommodate their requests in the case of ad hoc staff was found to be a mere conjecture, a screen to hide corruption and a lame excuse to justify the offence of money laundering,” the statement read.

Bakare stated that further findings by ICPC also questioned the use of N20m, allegedly earmarked for a verification team to screen candidates across Kano’s 484 Wards and 44 Local Government Areas.

He added that, contrary to the stated purpose, the verification was done entirely at KANSIEC’s headquarters in Kano, with candidates appearing at their own expense.

“The Commission added that its investigation further revealed that though the budget for the 2024 Election presented to the investigating officers (wrongly headed “Operation Budget 2025 Elections”) has the amount of N20, 000, 000.00  budgeted for the Team to conduct screening/verification of the candidates across 484 Wards and 44 Local Governments of Kano State, However, all the candidates were screened/verified in the Commission’s office in Kano.

“The Team did not travel out of Kano and the candidates made it to KANSIEC office in Kano at their own expense, yet the 3rd Defendant in his statement to the ICPC investigating officers stated that the entire budget of N20 million was given in cash to the KANSIEC Members who constitute the screening/verification team, ” the statement added.