DSS Arrests Ex-NIRSAL Boss 11 Months After Sacking over N5.6bn Wheat Project Scam

Almost a year after he was sacked as the Managing Director of the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Aliyu Abdlhameed, has been arrested.

NIRSAL, a $500m non-bank financial institution, is a creation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mandated to manage agribusiness-related credit risks in Nigeria.

Abdulhameed was kicked out of office following allegations of corruption, including a 2018 N5.6 billion wheat project meant for farmers in Kano and Jigawa States.

His sack was endorsed by the Board of the CBN following approval from the Presidency in December last year.

Both Abdulhameed and the three investor companies had denied wrongdoing.

However, when the Special Investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu and his support team to probe the activities of the apex bank and related entities swung into action in September this year, there was panic and apprehension within the top hierarchy of the CBN and the NIRSAL.

The Special Investigator, Jim Obazee and his team reportedly beamed searchlight on the NIRSAL and the CBN’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme which have, over the years, been at the centre of investigations.

Multiple sources within and outside the NIRSAL revealed that the arrest of the ex-NIRSAL boss came after five months of a manhunt by a joint team of the Department State Services, the Nigeria Police Force and the Special Investigator.

A source privy to Abdulhameed’s arrest also said he was apprehended last week on the premises of a federal government’s revenue-generating agency in Abuja where he had gone to lobby for a reappointment.