President
Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and
the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission to
compile documents on funds stolen under President Goodluck Jonathan.
The
PUNCH reliably learnt on Sunday that the directive was part of efforts to know
the exact amount stolen under the Jonathan administration with a view to
tracing them to foreign countries.
It
was learnt that such documents would be needed by the international community,
which had expressed readiness to assist Nigeria to recover the funds.
Buhari,
had in a live programme, Good Morning Nigeria, on the Nigerian
Television Authority, on July 27, said the international community was willing
to assist Nigeria to recover stolen money.
He
had said that his administration had started compiling necessary documents that
would enable the international community to assist Nigeria recover the funds.
The
President had stated, “We are trying to get these documents; we are getting
cooperation from the international community. We are going very soon to make
sure that those who perpetrated this crime against Nigeria will be faced with
facts and be taken to our courts.”
It
was gathered that, in a bid to carry out the presidential directive, the two
agencies had started analysing petitions written against ministries, agencies
and departments with a view to getting the amount stolen and those responsible
for it.
An
operative of one of the anti-graft agencies, who confided in one of our
correspondents, said the managements of the anti-graft agencies had been
engrossed in a sectorial analysis of petitions received from the various
government agencies.
Investigation
revealed that the anti-graft bodies were focusing attention on the top
ministries, department and agencies which attracted massive budgetary
allocations from the Federal Government under the previous administration.
The
source said that the President’s directive was given shortly before his trip to
the United States on July 20, 2015.
The
directive was said to have triggered a flurry of activities among the
anti-graft agencies.
It
was further gathered that the Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Larmorde, whose
agency is the bigger of the two agencies, called for all the petitions and
files against the various government bodies with a view to commencing holistic
investigations in line with the government directive.
It
was gathered that the files were allocated to the various units of the
commission to commence the process of invitation, and interrogation designed to
find out how much was missing and the process of prosecution.
It
was further gathered that the ICPC on its part had been involved in a discreet
investigation of civil servants believed to have acquired a lot of properties
in Abuja with stolen funds.
Several
political office holders in the previous administration had been quizzed for
alleged corruption while many are said to be on the waiting list of the EFCC
and the ICPC for interrogation.
The
source said, “I think what is happening is not sudden; the President gave an
instruction to the EFCC and the ICPC to ensure that they submit how much has
been stolen in the various sectors of the economy.
“Since
then, the Chairman of the EFCC called for all the files of the various
agencies; they are quite many and they were being sifted.
“The
ongoing investigation is meant to give the Presidency an idea of what was
stolen within the country and in some cases outside.”
When
our correspondent contacted the Resident Consultant, Media and Events of the
ICPC, Mr. Folu Olamiti, he said he would not comment on the story.
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