Nigeria treasury head arrested over corruption

Nigeria’s treasury head has been arrested for alleged involvement in fraud and money laundering worth 80 billion naira, the national anti-graft agency said.

Nigeria’s accountant-general, was arrested on Monday “after failing to honour invitations” to respond to the allegations, it said.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said he “raked off the funds through bogus consultancies and other illegal activities using proxies, family members and close associates”.

The proceeds were invested by him in real estate in the capital Abuja and in his home state of Kano in northern Nigeria, it said in a statement issued late Monday.

Last year, the agency said it had recovered 750 million dollars that had been plundered from the nation’s coffers.