Nigeria's former speaker was charged on Monday with illegally obtaining 38 billion naira ($240 million) in bank loans and sharing the funds with members of parliament as expenses and allowances. Dimeji Bankole, one of the most powerful politicians in the last administration, was re-arrested to face the fresh fraud charges moments after being granted bail in an initial corruption case brought against him last week, Reuters reported. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria's anti-corruption agency, had said it planned to file more charges against Bankole, who ended his term as parliamentary speaker this month. The 17 fresh counts filed against him on Monday accuse Bankole and his then deputy, Usman Nafada, of using parliament's accounts with the United Bank for Africa and First Bank to obtain 38 billion naira in loans. Just over 32 billion naira of the funds were then used to "indiscriminately increase the allowances of members of the House of Representatives", according to the charge sheet, while the remaining 5.5 billion was "dishonestly disbursed". Bankole last week pleaded not guilty to the first set of charges brought against him, which accuse him of conspiring to inflate the cost of hundreds of television sets, computers, printers and photocopiers, and rigging the bid for two bullet-proof Range Rovers and three luxury Mercedes cars. -- SPA
