EFCC summons more NAMA officials over alleged N5b fraud

The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has summoned three more staffers of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to appear before it in Abuja today in furtherance of the investigation it launched into the finances and expenditures of the aviation agency.

The newly summoned members of staff are the agency’s Director of Finance, Mrs. Clara Aliche, the ICT General Manager, Mr. Ajiribido Bolarinwa, and the Project Manager, Mrs. Felicia Agaubata.

A source within NAMA, who confirmed this to The Guardian in Lagos yesterday, explained that the EFCC issued the fresh summon after examining some of the vouchers and other related documents it took from NAMA during its unscheduled visit to the agency last Friday. The anti-graft agency had, during the visit, demanded the Director of Finance, Aliche, who was not around, and left an invitation order for her to appear before it in Abuja.

This latest invitation, though could not be confirmed by NAMA’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs. Olajumoke Aduke Adetona when The Guardian asked her to react to the information, was not denied by her when she said “ I don’t have information, I can’t confirm (about what is going on in the EFCC), I was not even around when the EFCC came last week.”

The EFCC had during the visit arrested NAMA’s Managing Director, Ibrahim Abdulsalam, the agency’s General Manager, Procurement Mr. Olumuyiwa Adegorite and his counterpart in the Finance directorate, Niurudeen Segun Agbolade and took them to Abuja, carrying along with it documents packaged in three Ghana-Must-Go bags.

Meanwhile, the NAMA source has said the N5 billion allegedly being investigated by the EFCC cannot be linked to the Single Treasury Account because the petition upon which the anti-graft agency is acting pre-dated the TSA which only took off last August. The source said the immediate past managing director of NAMA had been a guest of the agency over the matter.

The NAMA boss is also facing labour issues in the office in Lagos as the three unions in the agency have given him a 21-day ultimatum to implement the agreement reached with him on arrears of allowances owed the workers. The ultimatum was issued on February 8 and will expire on February 28, after which the workers vowed to shut down the country’s airspace if their demand was not met.

In response to the ultimatum, the managing director had summoned a meeting with the unions for this week. It is doubtful if the meeting could hold in the light of the current ordeal of Abdulsalam who may not know when he would leave EFCC chamber.