Music heavyweight, Oladapo Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’banj, has broken his silence over his alleged arrest by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, describing the arrest as “misconceived, mischievous and prejudicial to the justice system anywhere in the world.”
Reports say that D’banj is a Brand Ambassador for the ministry. It was alleged that the singer colluded with some government officials to introduce ghost beneficiaries into the payroll of the scheme. The stipend paid to those beneficiaries was then paid to accounts that have now allegedly been linked to the pop star.
The pop singer was reportedly arrested and detained, Tuesday, by the anti-graft agency, over fraud-related offences.
According to Punch, a source within the anti-graft agency confirmed that D’banj was arrested and detained on the said day after ICPC operatives forced him to surrender after threats that he’d be arrested anywhere in the world if he failed to show up.
The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that though D’Banj had earlier been invited for questioning on several occasions the singer had refused to show up, claiming that he was out of the country for scheduled concerts.
The source said, “Our investigation shows that D’banj colluded with some government officials to infuse ghost beneficiaries into the payroll of the scheme. With this, the stipend paid to those ghost beneficiaries is directly paid to bank accounts linked to the singer.
“On arrival, he was interrogated for hours after which he was detained and his plea for administrative bail was rejected by officials, for lack of trust.”
D’Banj will be charged in court this week for an extended remand order to enable further investigation before charging him to court to answer to the allegations, according to the source who noted that an official statement would soon be released regarding the matter.
The spokesperson for the ICPC, Mrs. Azuka Ogugua, did not take calls or respond to text messages by our correspondent on Wednesday morning.
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