$350k fraud: Governor Dapo Abiodun’s aide Abidemi Rufai arrested

Abidemi Rufai, a devoted associate of Governor Dapo Abiodun who currently serves as his top aide on special duties, has been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States for his role in a $650 million (N312 billion) employment fraud

Many Nigerians have since taken to social media to blast Abidemi Rufai, a Senior Special Assistant to Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, over a $350,000 employment fraud.

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Rufai on Friday evening at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York based on the criminal complaint.

Reacting to the arrest, Nigerians have taken to Twitter to lambast Rufai, saying his greed led him to the ignoble act.

Leadership selection in Nigeria is horrible. Scammers, Drug Lords, Human Traffickers, have hijacked the Government at all levels. They go into politics to clean their Dutty Money

Hushpuppi & Abidemi Rufai could become Governors of their respective States, if they weren’t caught.

— NEFERTITI (@firstladyship) May 18, 2021

A user with the handle @firstladyship tweeted, “Abidemi Rufai is another exemple of the ‘Lekki Big Boy’. In a country with the poorest people in the world, some have chosen the ‘Road to Perdition.’ Not all you see on social media is legit. So don’t get carried away by the glitz and glamour. Greed kills!”

Another user @oluomoofderby tweeted, “Abidemi Rufai’s story should be a lesson to every one of us. Many people are living fake lifestyles. He should be expecting 20/25 yrs in American prison.”

@girllikehelen wrote, “This tweet is for those engaging in credit card fraud. You can continue stealing from the US but one day, you will get caught. They will carry out their investigations and nail you when you least expect it. Abidemi Rufai is just one of the many guys that will go down.”

Another tweep, @uncle_ajala, called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to unravel more scammers in Nigeria.

Abidemi Rufai entered US in Feb 2020, and scammed over 100 Americans using their SSN to claim UB.

He used a feature of Google I already explained on this street and used +234 as recovery phone number.

Guess what, the number was the number on his DS-160/CGIFEDERAL portal.

— Agboola Peter (@baba_Omoloro) May 18, 2021

“I still blame the Nigerian Government for everything! Nigerians are talented and energetic, but no enabling environment. Everything now is money and no one wants to carry last! Imagine if Abidemi Rufai and Hushpuppi have enabling environment to contribute their ICT knowledge,” @shexzy05 tweeted.

@faithomino, however, described the situation as “unfortunate and embarrassing.”

Governor Abiodun’s aide and “Lekki big boy” Abidemi Rufai aka Sandy Tang has been arrested over a $650m COVID-19 unemployment fraud in the U.S. He was arrested at JFK airport as he tried to leave the US. pic.twitter.com/x8dfoEFMFg

— ✨? DaddyMO?✨✊? (@therealdaddymo1) May 18, 2021