The source said: “Despite the alleged smashing of the fertiliser syndicate, a fresh case of racketeering has been uncovered in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
“The fraud made the commission to invite the permanent secretary in the ministry and some other key officers for grilling. Those people were quizzed for hours by our operatives.
“The bigwigs made statements before they were allowed to go. The investigation is ongoing and if they are needed, they will definitely be re-invited.”
The highly-placed source gave insights into how the racket was unravelled.
The source added: “The alleged fraud came to light following a petition by Ade Okeaya-Inneh (SAN) on behalf of Enterprise Bank Limited, against Abubakar Musa and three other companies – Messrs Madalla Enterprises, Ani B. Barak Nigeria Limited and Al Iman Agro Ventures Limited.
“Musa is the Agric Desk officer of Enterprise Bank. The bank is said to have, in April 2013, granted a loan to the companies to purchase fertiliser but they refused to pay back the loan. The three companies allegedly received products from the Growth Enhancement Scheme that was far in excess of what they paid for.
“MBS Merchant Limited, the supplier of the fertiliser, allegedly claimed to have supplied the three companies with fertiliser worth N2,437,050,000 for which it only received N844,700,000.
“It is alleged that the fertiliser, which was purchased at Federal Government subsidised price and meant to be sold to local farmers, was diverted to a neighbouring country and sold at exorbitant price.”
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