Oladapo Oyebanji, better known by his stage name D’banj, was detained by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for allegedly diverting millions of N-Power monies in coordination with some government officials.
He 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 detained on the aforementioned day after ICPC agents forced 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 several occasions, D’Banj had declined to appear, stating that he was abroad for scheduled 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 further investigation before charging him to court to answer to the allegations, according to the source who noted that an official statement would soon be released regarding the matter.
On Wednesday morning, Mrs. Azuka Ogugua, the ICPC spokesperson, did not answer calls or texts from our correspondent.
