The Acting Chairman of the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has refused to speak out on the controversy trailing the recovered N15 billion, from a flat in Ikoyi, Lagos, last week.
Recall, that thee EFCC had on Thursday, stormed a luxury apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos, where it discovered cash in three currencies, stashed in fire-proof safes. During the raid on one of the flats on the 7th floor of Osborne Towers in Ikoyi, a total of N13 billion, made up of $43.4 million, N23 million, and £27,000, was found.
Thereafter, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, claimed that the recovered money was allegedly stolen from the State coffers, by his immediate predecessor and current Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi.
Reacting to the shocking event, majority of prominent Nigerians have insisted that the EFCC must speak out on the intelligence that led the agency to the building, the result of its investigation, and the ownership of the money.
Afenifere Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who claimed the development was a reflection of the rot in the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government, insisted that it was a problem created by the government itself.
He said: “Government set up Commissions by law to fight corruption, and they are fighting each other, is that not corruption? What is happening now, shows the rottenness in the government.
“Those who rejected the DSS report on Magu, what have they to say? Is that not the body empowered to investigate any public officer, and this agency sent a report to the Senate that Magu was not credible to lead EFCC, and you declined their report and yet, you still keep them. The moment you have lost confidence in them, you sack them, since you no longer believe in them?
“That’s the responsibility of a responsible government. The moment you are no longer comfortable with an agency or its recommendations, you sack them. In fact, this is the first time in the history of government in this country, that the DSS recommendation was turned down, and when you don’t believe in it anymore, you sack them. You can’t continue to keep the DSS there, because you have shown that you are not comfortable with them. If a Permanent Secretary doesn’t perform, what do you do? You sack!” he said.
Also, the former Ogun State Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba, was palpably irritated when he said: “The whole thing is a total disgrace of the highest order, and there’s a total display of sordid incompetence. A whistle-blower should have told them the owner of what he’s blowing the whistle on. EFCC too should have taken the trouble to monitor the place, and catch whoever owns it red-handed. I say it is a disgrace, because a body claims to have recovered a huge sum of money, and within three hours, they touted four names as the owners.
“It was first Muazu. Muazu denied and said he was not the owner and in any case, Muazu is not in the country. They now went on to Esther, and Esther denied. Then, they went to Anenih’s daughter, and that one too denied. Then, then said it was Amaechi. and Wike now came out of the blues to say it is Rivers’ money. I cannot believe that a serious body would run itself into such a situation, where its credibility is being questioned. I am really not impressed at all.
“EFCC has made the mistake of confirming that the internet bloggers are their agents, because all these names were being touted, not by major newspapers, but internet bloggers, who are not themselves in any way professional. EFCC has to go and search itself, clear its name, and stop this trial by the media.
“I say this because of the recent happenings. For instance, up till now, we don’t know the owner of the N49 million found in Kaduna. Did the money fall from heaven like manna? You went to a market and you said you found N250 million and so what? Are we not a cash society? Do we politicians not throw money around and pay cash to our agents during campaigns? Does that turn us into money launderers? During elections we pay our agents cash. We don’t send money to them by bank transfers or cheques. Nigeria is still largely a cash society. It is not a big deal at all. There’s no law that says it’s a crime to keep cash in your house.
“To compound it all, two major agencies of government – NIA and EFCC – started to wash their linen in the public, giving the impression of lack of cooperation. NIA now lays claim to the money, and we are yet to have the reaction of the EFCC. It is a disgrace to our country, that two sister agencies are now working against each other, with inadequate cooperation. I feel ashamed as a Journalist, that the information coming from our agencies is through the bloggers.”
The scribe of Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, also described the development as, “The greatest embarrassment for the anti-graft war in Nigeria. That the EFCC will rush to the public and make a scene about its discovery, in any case, that’s even the first tragedy. Initially, EFCC told us that $38 million was found. But immediately, there was a claim that the money belongs to the NIA, and they went to court, the money became $43 million dollars.
“So, what was going to happen to the $5 million differential, if the NIA had not allegedly claimed the money? And I think this speaks to the integrity issue, which the DSS raised in its letter to the Senate. If a whole $5 million suddenly surfaced after NIA claimed the money, that’s the first test of EFCC’s integrity. The second thing, is that if you go to Alausa today as a Lawyer, to verify the title of that property, in a day you can do that, to know the title of the house, who owns it, and if it has been transferred to another person.
“So, if a whole EFCC cannot confirm the title or the identity of the owner of that property, then there is problem. Now, we have this forth and back: oh, the money is owned by NIA; NIA said the money is… and up till now we’ve not heard from NIA – NIA has not made any statement, which raises a lot of concern, and I think how EFCC handles this will determine whether Nigerians will continue to take it seriously.
“I think the EFCC’s integrity is seriously being challenged here, just like the DSS wrote to the Senate that there is integrity issue in EFCC, so the integrity of the EFCC is being challenged over this recovered funds,” he said.
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