Court Declares Plateau Lawmaker Wanted Over Alleged N73.6m TETFund Contract Fraud

A Federal High Court in Abuja has declared Adamu Aliyu, a member of the Plateau State House of Assembly, wanted over his alleged involvement in a fraudulent N73.6 million Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) contract.

Justice Emeka Nwite issued the order after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) filed an application against the lawmaker, who represents the Jos North State Constituency.

According to court documents obtained by NIGERIA NEWS 247, a businessman, Mohammed Jidda, accused Aliyu of defrauding him under the guise of securing an N850 million TETFund contract at the University of Jos. Jidda claimed that Aliyu signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and collected N73.6 million in advance, including N52 million designated for Imanal Concept Ltd., a company linked to one Saad Abubakar, who allegedly facilitated the fake deal.

The documents further revealed that Aliyu presented a forged contract award letter for a N500 million indoor sports hall project and instructed Jidda to transfer the funds to his personal GTBank account and to Imanal Concept’s Zenith Bank account.

ICPC investigations confirmed that N47.8 million was paid into Aliyu’s personal account, N22.4 million into Imanal Concept’s account, and an additional N3.2 million directly to Aliyu. The University of Jos denied ever issuing the contract and later confirmed the award letter was falsified.

Despite several summons, Aliyu allegedly failed to cooperate with ICPC’s investigation. The Commission also informed the court it had credible intelligence that the lawmaker was planning to flee the country.

In response, Justice Nwite granted ICPC’s request to declare Aliyu wanted, authorizing the publication of his name in national newspapers and on social media. The court also empowered security agencies and citizens to arrest and hand him over to the ICPC to face a 32-count charge, including fraud, forgery, and diversion of public funds.

Aliyu, however, has denied the allegations. In a statement, he claimed the matter was a civil dispute, not a criminal case. He said he had refunded N45 million to Jidda’s company, Mohiba Investment Ltd., and maintained that he only acted as a conduit for the contract documents, which he denies forging. He added that his legal team had informed the ICPC that the dispute is already before a civil court.