The Special Adviser on International Relations to Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Bamikole Omishore,and his wife, Abiola Aiyegbayo-Omishore, are currently under probe by the EFCC over an alleged ghost worker scam.
The spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said,
“I can confirm that the petition is before the commission and receiving necessary attention.”
The probe, it was learnt, was part of a wider investigation into allegations that lawmakers and their aides diverted billions of naira from the National Assembly coffers under the guise that the money was meant for the payment of non-existent workers.
Documents submitted to the EFCC showed that Omishore, who has been working with Saraki since 2015, allegedly listed his wife as a grade level 12 employee of the National Assembly, though she is a nurse in the U.S, Punchng reports.
The petition, signed by Abba El-Mustapha on behalf of Youths United against Corruption in Nigeria, claimed that Omishore’s wife had been collecting salaries to the tune of N150,000 for nearly three years through her GTB account 0147896921 with the name ‘Abiola Aiyegbayo’. .
Documents showed that most of the salary payments were made on the same day thereby arousing suspicion. For example, the salaries for January, with file number S0723 and February 2017 also with file number S0723, were paid on April 10, 2017.
The petition read in part:
“Further information gathered revealed that Mr. Omishore, since his appointment, has purchased prime properties in Abuja and Lagos respectively.” .
The petitioner was said to have further alleged that Omishore’s wife had an identity card showing she was an employee of the National Assembly, while all her profiles online never reflected that she had worked with the Assembly. .
According to the EFCC, the petitioner sought an immediate probe into the matter and for the commission to expand its scope to “save the nation billions of naira.” Saraki had, last year, sacked over 100 of his aides, most of which he claimed were inherited from his predecessor, David Mark.
