Ms. Aisha Rimi, who was recently appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) by President Bola Tinubu was indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
She was indicted alongside Lagos socialite, Folorunsho Coker, now reportedly her estranged husband.
There are reports on March 6, 2018, that the EFCC told a Lagos High Court that N3 billion was diverted from the account of the Lagos State Government Number Plate Production Authority when Coker was the managing director.
In 2018 that EFCC investigator, Mr Olamide Sadiq, in an affidavit deposed to in support of an ex parte application to freeze the account used for the alleged fraud, said an investigation into the fraud was based on intelligence received sometime in 2017 by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit about suspicious transactions on the account of Rimi and Partners.
According to him, there were “heavy inflows” in excess of N3 billion from LSGNPPA into the account of the company allegedly owned by Aisha Rimi, who is Coker’s wife.
Sadiq said investigations by EFCC revealed that Rimi and Partners had 10 bank accounts with Guaranty Trust Bank.
“Mr. Folorunsho Coker was as at that time the Managing Director of the 1st respondent — LSGNPPA.
“He was also the husband of Aisha Rimi, one of the signatories to the accounts of the 2nd and 3rd respondents — Rimi and Partners and Ekosina Investment Ltd respectively.
“Further to the depositions contained in the paragraph above, I know as a fact derived during my investigations, that the said Mr. Folorunsho Coker was also a signatory to the Bank account of the 1st respondent.
“Investigations revealed that Aisha Rimi is the major partner in Rimi and Partners and she is also in control of Ekosina Investment Ltd, a company seen to have received huge transfers from the LSGNPPA.
“From preliminary investigations by the commission, the 2nd and 3rd respondents were used to divert funds from the LSGNPPA with the influence of Folorunsho Coker, who was the Managing Director of the Lagos State Agency,” Sadiq told the court.
Based on EFCC’s request, Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court ordered the freezing of the 32 bank accounts allegedly used for the diversion of funds pending the conclusion of the investigations being done by the EFCC.
Idris said the account would remain frozen pending the conclusion of EFCC’s investigation into the alleged N3 billion fraud.
The companies whose accounts were also frozen include a law firm, Rimi and Partners; the EFCC stated that Coker’s wife, Mrs Aisha Rimi, was the sole proprietor.
The court also ordered the accounts of Ekosina Investment Ltd, SW Properties Ltd, Imira Trade and Global Services Ltd, Lofty Investment Nigeria Ltd, Pure Technical Services Ltd and Cablepoint Ltd among others to be frozen.
Despite the baggage, President Bola Tinubu on October 15 appointed Rimi as the new CEO of NIPC.
