• Opens money laundering case against Obiano
• ‘Probes may be political, to hoodwink masses’
Over eight years since the country’s anti-graft agencies opened investigations into alleged diversion of funds by present and past government officials, they have failed to either conclude or update Nigerians on the status of the probes involving billions of naira.
Meanwhile, data obtained by The Guardian from the Probe Monitor portal developed by the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity, revealed many cases involving prominent Nigerians are in limbo.
But the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has opened the money laundering case against the immediate past governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, by producing two witnesses who testified before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Anti-graft stakeholders in the country are getting worried that the cases may have been swept under the carpet, owing to influence from powers-that-be.
According to them, the development underscores a significant accountability gap and raises serious questions about the effectiveness and commitment of public institutions in pursuing transparency and justice.
Most prominent of all, according to the data, is that of former governor of Akwa Ibom State and the incumbent President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, initiated by EFCC in 2015, over alleged diversion of N108.1 billion.
Another abandoned probe initiated by the EFCC is that of former governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Adamu, for allegedly misappropriating N15 billion alongside 18 others, and that of former governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, and House of Assembly members for alleged diversion of N23.08 billion.
The probes were initiated in July and May 2018 without an update from the commission on their status. Another popular case registered on the portal that EFCC failed to act on is the probe of over N200 billion contract approved during Abdul’azizYari’s regime as Zamfara State governor. This probe has lasted 1,643 days.
Also, the EFCC commenced a probe of alleged diversion of over N3 billion meant for Operation Light-Up Kwara (LUK) project by the immediate past administration of Abdulfatah Ahmed, which has lasted for 1,583 days.
Cases involving former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, and his sons over alleged N1.35 billion fraud among others are still gathering dust on EFCC’s shelves.
The Executive Director of the Centre, Umar Yakubu, expressed concern that abandoning the probes and leaving the public in the dark on their progress give the impression that their actions were mere political theatrics to temporarily placate the masses without any genuine intention of addressing the underlying issues.
He said: “Moreover, the financial implications of these abandoned probes are significant as each investigation requires substantial resources.
“These ranges from the time and effort of personnel to the logistics, and the so-called sitting allowance for panel members. All these make the nation continues to lose resources.
“It is important also that when these probes are left incomplete, it does not only represent a waste of these resources but also a diversion of funds that could have been used for essential public services such as healthcare, education and infrastructure development.”
OBIANO, who governed Anambra from March 2014 to March 2022, is facing nine chargespreferred against him by the anti-graft agency.
EFCC, which alleged that the former governor looted over N4 billion, told the court that the funds were siphoned from the state’s security vote, converted into dollars and handed to the defendant in cash.
At the resumed proceeding on the matter, yesterday, EFCC presented a banker, TochukwuNnadi, as its first Prosecution Witness (PW1).Nnadi, who told the court that he was a bank manager at Awka, the capital of Anambra, said: “As part of our responsibilities, we manage customers’ accounts and interface with various security and anti-graft agencies in terms of enquiry on a customer’s account. We usually comply by providing the requested information.
“I know the defendant in this matter. He is the immediate past governor of Anambra. The state government maintains various accounts with our bank and one of such accounts was for security votes. There was nothing special about the security votes account. It was like every other account we managed for the state government.”
He declined the request by the prosecution counsel, Sylvanus Tahir (SAN) to mention names of some of the beneficiaries in the open court, saying it would amount to a breach of his “oath of secrecy.”
The defencecounsel, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), said his client would reserve his objections to the exhibits and raise them in his final address. Justice Inyang Ekwo adjourned further hearing in the matter to June 26, 2024.
