From the arms procurement fraud that assailed President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, the Central Bank of Nigeria paid N2.4 billion to Andy Uba, a former senator and ruling APC candidate in the upcoming Anambra gubernatorial election, documents seen by Peoples Gazette said.

The transaction was uncovered by the investigative panel raised by President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the $2.1 billion arms purchase scandal in 2016, but the presidency ordered members of the panel to expunge Mr Uba’s name from indicted individuals and entities, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Bank records obtained by The Gazette showed how the Office of the National Security Adviser paid Southland Associates Ltd N2,440,959,000 through its Zenith account number 5070363103 via the CBN on November 8, 2014. Southland Associates registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on June 12, 2001, by Mr Uba, registration documents said.

Although a transfer instruction emanated from the disgraced former NSA Sambo Dasuki, the purpose of the transaction was not disclosed. But one of our sources said Mr Uba had told the NSA he could use Southland Associates, a company registered as an oil and gas business, to supply military peripherals. He, however, failed to supply the equipment.

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Instead, Mr Uba started transferring the money from Southland Associates’ account into other bank accounts run by himself and proxies, records show. Months preceding the N2.4 billion transfer, Southland Associates had less than N24 million in its account, indicating that it was not in any consequential business prior to the windfall from funds originally earmarked for the Boko Haram war.