Nigerian music star D’banj says he has “no business with fraud” after his lawyer says he was released from custody by the Nigerian anti-corruption agency – the ICPC.
He was arrested earlier this week on allegations of fraud after millions of dollars meant to help unemployed youths start businesses was reported missing.
“I have assisted the commission with all I know”, D’Banj said on Instagram.
“I am confident in their capacity to unravel the truth,” he continued.
D’banj also added that he has been released on “self-recognition”, which mean he did not have to post bail before being allowed to go free.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the ICPC has told the BBC that “investigations are ongoing”.
The artist – whose real name is Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo – has claimed to be the brand ambassador for the youth business scheme.
However, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, which oversees the N-Power scheme, said it had no official engagement with the artist and that his claim to be an ambassador for the scheme was misleading.
N-Power was launched in 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
But many beneficiaries have complained for months that they were not receiving their grants.
Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency said in a statement on Wednesday that “billions of naira” had been diverted.
Ten other people, as well as D’banj, are being investigated, the agency previously said.
D’banj’s lawyer said it was an “embarrassment to the entire country that such a huge allegation [was made] against a public figure without any evidence”.
D’banj’s 2012 hit Oliver Twist won him fans across the continent and in the diaspora.
Two years ago his one-year-old son drowned in a pool at his home in the commercial city of Lagos.
Who is D’banj?
- Forty-two-year old singer, entrepreneur and television personality
- Voted best African Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2007
- Best-selling African Artist at the 2014 World Music Awards
- His Oliver Twist hit won him international fame
Source: BBC