The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested Gudaji Kazaure, a former member of the House of Representatives, over a suspicious ₦70 million payment allegedly made by former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
According to Daily Nigerian, Kazaure was taken into custody on Wednesday shortly after a Kano High Court lifted a restraining order that had temporarily protected him from arrest.
An EFCC insider revealed that Kazaure received ₦20 million in two separate tranches from an associate of Emefiele, identified only as Eric, supposedly to purchase Sallah rams. He reportedly received an additional ₦50 million “donation” from Emefiele after a fire incident at his residence.
The former lawmaker is currently being detained at the EFCC’s Kano office and may be transferred to Abuja to face formal charges.
This development comes despite Kazaure’s previous public stance against Emefiele. In December 2022, he accused the then-CBN governor of mismanaging ₦89.1 trillion in stamp duty funds and claimed he was being blocked from presenting a report by a presidential committee set up to investigate the matter.
However, the Presidency at the time dismissed Kazaure’s claims as false, clarifying through spokesperson Garba Shehu that the committee in question had long been dissolved.
Emefiele, who was suspended and later arrested in 2023 by the Tinubu administration, is currently facing several corruption charges in courts in Lagos and Abuja.
