*The two Chinese that are now in EFCC custody, Mr Meng Wei Kun and Mr. Xu Kuoi when they were paraded alongside their bribe money by the commission
The office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the Sokoto Zonal Office has arrested two Chinese men, Mr. Meng Wei Kun and Mr. Xu Koi, for offering the Zonal Head of EFCC in Sokoto State, Mr. Abdullahi Lawal N50 million as bribe. According to the agency, the N50 million bribe, which was neatly conveyed in cartons of table water, came as the first installment of N100 million offered as bribe to the EFCC officer.
Mr. Dele Oyewale, EFCC’s Head, Media and Publicity in a said the suspects were arrested on Monday in Sokoto. The commission said the bribe was offered in a desperate bid to compromise ongoing investigations of a construction company, China Zhonghao Nigeria Limited, handling N50billion contracts awarded by the Zamfara State Government between 2012 to 2019.
Oyewale, in the statement said, “The zonal office of the Commission is investigating the construction company, in connection with the execution of contracts for the construction of township roads in Gummi, Bukkuyun, Anka and Nassarawa towns of Zamfara state; and also the construction of one hundred and sixty eight (168) solar- powered boreholes in the 14 local government areas of the state.
“Alarmed by the consistency and professionalism of investigation being conducted, the company reached out to Lawal with an offer of N100 million as bribe to “bury” the matter. In a grand design to trap the corrupt officials, Lawal played along, and on Monday, two representatives of the company Meng Wei Kun and Xu Kuoi offered him cash totaling fifty million naira in their office along airport road, Sokoto. The cash was offered as a first installment.”
In view of that, Oyewale said the suspects were promptly arrested with the cash as evidence. The commission said the investigation of the construction company was informed by an intelligence on alleged conspiracy, misappropriation of public funds, embezzlement, official corruption, abuse of office, stealing and money laundering obtained against the Zamfara State government through inflated and uncompleted contracts awarded to the company.
It added that investigations had so far revealed that China Zounghao Limited had received payments of over N41 billion from the Zamfara State government, out of which about N16 billion, equivalent to over $53 million, was allegedly diverted and traced to some bureau de change operators in the country.
