Acting as Dr Goodluck's public face, Dr Okupe was the former president's senior special assistant on media affairs and regularly spoke for him. However, he has now been associated with the $2.1bn Dasukigate scandal under which money meant to buy military hardware was diverted to private pockets.
According to details uncovered by the EFCC, the sum of N162m illicit was paid to Dr Okupe's companies by former national security adviser Col Sambo Dasuki and Chanchaga Local Government Area in Niger State. Yesterday, Dr Okupe was invited to the EFCC's offices for questioning but pleaded with them not to detain him because he has a heart problem.
Although the anti-graft agency admitted Dr Okupe to bail on compassionate ground, he was mandated to be reporting at intervals. According to one top EFCC source, Dr Okupe had been reporting to the anti-graft agency after he was initially interrogated on June 22, 2016.
“He has been coming to the EFCC over fresh allegations bordering on illicit payments received from the Office of the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasuki, as well as strange payments to his companies by a council in Niger State. He was quizzed over N50m which he collected in cash from the former NSA without record or accountability.
“We also got evidence that a company that is owned by him, Romic Soil Fix International, received N63m from Chanchaga Local Government of Niger State and another N13.5m from the same council, for reasons that are not stated. Another company that is linked to Okupe, Abraham Telecoms, allegedly received N35.5m from the NSA through the Central Bank of Nigeria," the EFCC official added.
Apparently, the payments from Chanchaga Local Government to Romic were made on November 21, 2014 during the Peoples Democratic Party primary election and February 13, 2015, just before the general election. According to the EFCC, Dr Okupe has not been able to explain the receipts and has been asked to be reporting at intervals.
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