Oladapo Oyebanji, better known by his stage name D’banj, has been reported to have been detained by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission for allegedly diverting millions of N-Power funds in coordination with some government officials, as Validview Network has gathered.
The award-winning singer is now being held at the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja’s ICPC Headquarters. D’banj was held on Tuesday, according to an earlier report by Premium Times.
D’banj was arrested and held on the aforementioned day after ICPC agents ordered him to surrender after threatening to arrest him anywhere in the world if he did not show up, according to a reliable source within the anti-graft organization who confirmed the information to our correspondent.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said that despite having previously been invited for questioning on many occasions, D’Banj had declined to appear, stating that he was abroad for booked 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 are 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 more investigation before bringing him to court to respond to the claims, according to the source who highlighted that an official statement would soon be published regarding the situation.
As at this morning, all efforts to reach Mrs. Azuka Ogugua, the ICPC spokesperson, has not gone through as it was gathered that Ogugua and other senior ICPC officials are now abroad for a program.
