EFCC INVITED TO PROBE THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT, MR. YAKUBU CHONOKO MAIKYAU, SAN FOR ALLEGED ACTS OF MONEY LAUNDERING, MISAPPROPRIATION, AND CORRUPTION
ParallelFacts learned that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to launch an investigation into alleged acts of money laundering, misappropriation, and corruption by Mr. Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, SAN, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), after it received a petition against Mr. Maikyau, SAN, on the alleged infractions.
A concerned member of the Nigerian Bar Association wrote the petition, which asks the EFCC to look into the activities and actions of the NBA President after he publicly admitted receiving an undisclosed amount of hard currency in cash from an anonymous donor on behalf of the Nigerian Bar Association. He said it was worth about fifty million naira when he converted it, and he also took ten million naira for himself.
Recall that the National Excos of the NBA made shocking revelations about the NBA President at the recently concluded 63rd NBA Annual General Conference, particularly during the Annual General Meeting, involving issues of executive highhandedness, suspicion of financial irregularities, and money laundering. The NBA Constitution requires the National Treasurer of the Association, Madam Caroline Ladidi Anze-Bishop, to present and authenticate an audited financial report of the association.
According to her, this report did not come from her office, nor was she involved in its preparation. Mr. YC Maikyau made the confession in an effort to defend himself. She accused Mr. Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau of usurping S. 9(5)(g) and S. 23 of the extant Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association by hijacking the office of the Treasurer of the Association, and the NBA President’s public admission of single-handedly receiving anonymous cash donations on behalf of the Association further confirmed the National Treasurer’s allegations against Mr. YC Maikyau.
This is even worse, as two other senior national officers, namely the 2nd Vice President, Mr. Clement Chukwuemeka, and the 3rd Vice President, Mrs. Mandy Demechi Asagba, accused Mr. Maikyau of usurping their offices and replacing them with his personal aides in contravention of the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association.
According to Mr. YC Maikyau at the AGM, he alleged that the National Officers were accusing him because he refused to allow them access to the Association’s monies, and he further claimed that the National Officers had in an executive meeting chaired by the 1st Vice President, Mrs. Linda Rose Bala, where he claimed that the National Officers resolved to share forty million naira donated by the Kebbi State Government for the Association’s National Executive Meeting, which was held in March 2023 in Kebbi State.
The allegations by Mr. YC Maikyau have all been debunked to be false and mere conjectures made to deceive members of the Association and the public, in separate rejoinders and public rebuttals, first by the NBA Publicity Secretary Mr. Akorede Habeeb, then denied in a response by the General Secretary Mr. Adesina Adegbite and the Assistant General Secretary, Mr. Daniel Kip who is confirmed to be responsible for taking minutes of all executive meetings, Mr. Daniel Kip wrote that there was never such a meeting as was falsely alleged by the Mr. Y C Maikyua, further responses by the 3rd Vice President and the National Treasurer in separate public rejoinders all debunked the allegations and challenged Mr. YC Maikyau to provide evidence to his preposterous allegations, of which no word has been heard and the NBA President has remained silent.
There have also been allegations of corruption in the procurement of bags and the award of contracts for the Annual General Conference to the tune of over 700 million Naira for bags alone, which is reported to be 50% more than what the National Executive Committee for the Association approved. Mr. Maikyau had earlier publicly admitted to allegations of conflict of interest and insider dealings in awarding various contracts to his family members at the Pre-AGM National Executive Meeting, which was held on the 26th of August 2023, before his public outburst on the 30th of August 2023.
The 3rd Vice President and the National Treasurer have all demanded an independent audit of the Association’s financial records to further prove that Mr. YC Maikyau’s false allegations were made against all National Officers to distract the public from obvious infractions and aberrations, in a desperate move to also stop members from demanding accountability since he assumed office as President of the Association in August 2022.
This is because there are unconfirmed reports of Mr. Maikyau receiving far more donations than he publicly admitted on behalf of the association. It is believed that personal accounts are being used to receive money for the NBA and for the payment of staff and services on the instructions of Mr. YC Maikyau, which are not captured in the financial records of the association.
The matter has now been tabled before the anti-graft agency for it to conduct its investigation and prosecute the culprits accordingly. Everyone is watching the EFCC to see if their fight against corruption is good for the country. Many people thought that the EFCC and other anti-corruption groups would have started investigating and prosecuting Mr. Y. C. Maikyau, SAN, OON, without being asked.
This is because he publicly admitted to receiving huge amounts of “hard currencies” as anonymous cash donations on behalf of the association, which is against S. 2(1)(a) of the Money Laundering Act. According to ParallelFacts, the EFCC received the petition on September 26, 2023. A link to the acknowledgment of receipt of the petition by the EFCC is provided below.
