Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has raised the alarm that some foreign partners have been sabotaging the efforts of the anti-graft agency to extradite former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to face trial on suspected economic and financial crimes in Nigeria.
Besides, he said the commission has scheduled a 10million-man march against corruption for February 14, this year, which is the Valentine’s Day, across all the states of the federation. He vowed that the commission would be harder on economic and finacial criminals this year and there would not be sacred cows in the anti-graft campaign.
He made the disclosure when he spoke with journalists during his official visit to the Ibadan zonal office of the commission, Iyaganku G.R.A, Ibadan on Wednesday.
Magu alleged that some foreign partners of EFC in the United Kingdom have been giving protection to Alison-Madueke and they have not disclosed any offence they have been holding her for in the past five years, adding that there are offences in Nigeria that she could be tried for in Nigeria.
He stated that the agency has adopted another strategy to ensure extradition of looters abroad, describing the suit against Alison-Madueke as straight forward while emphasising why she should be brought back to Nigeria for trial, peradventure the partners abroad have no evidence against her.
He said; “We are collaborating with everybody including Nigerians in the diaspora to collect a lot of information on looters abroad. The strategy is to expose the looters and for them to return their loots.
“For instance, there is a sabotage from foreign partners about the trial of former Petroleum Minister, Alison-Madueke, because they are giving her protection. They are yet to disclosed her offences but they rely on the evidences we have recovered so far. We have already set up another strategy to investigate the matter but I won’t disclosed the strategy here.
“We have relationship with the FBI and CIA in most of the oversea countries and I can assure you that she will be brought down to Nigeria for the continuation of her trial this year because there is no reason for keeping her. She has not been taking to court for the past five years of her trial. Why should one issue be investigated for five years? It is a straight forward case and it is a financial crime, not a murder case that is may be difficult to prove.”
The EFCC boss further noted that the whistle blower policy is still active, but it is being slowed down because it has to go through all the court processes to forfeit the proceed to the Federal Government.
While reacting to recent raid of ‘yahoo boys’ at a night club in Ibadan, Magu said; “We go against the fraudsters, who made their money illegally, and we only do that when we have actionable intelligence report.”
Magu also reviewed the activities of the agency in 2019 and also projected into the 2020, saying: “The year 2019 was a great year for our commission as we recorded a number of unprecedented successes.
“The year 2020 promises to be better and greater as we are poised to work harder and intensify efforts in stamping out corruption in our dear country. We will be harder on looters. We will pursue them more vigorously and ensure that they return their loots. We promise Nigerians that we will maintain our standard of ensuring that there is no sacred cow in the fight against corruption.
It is in line with this spirit that the commission is starting the year’s milestone events with a specially-packaged 10million-Man March Against Corruption. Slated for February 14, 2020, the march is organised in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
“The Nigerian youths will be the core drivers of this march, and it holds simultaneously across all states of the federation.
“I therefore seek the cooperation of all Nigerians across all strata. I believe with our collective effort, we can rescue our nation from the crippling jaws of corruption.”
Speaking on his official visit to Ibadan, Magu noted that the zonal office of the commission was sited in Ibadan, “giving the rich history behind the ancient city. Ibadan is very strategic to operations of our commission. Apart from being the political headquarters of the defunct Western Region, Ibadan has scored many firsts for our great country Nigeria, including hosting the first Television station in Africa, which later metamorphosed into the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), the first university in Nigeria (University of Ibadan), and the first sports complex in Africa, the Liberty Stadium (now Obafemi Awolowo Sports Complex), among others.
“Some of the Nigerian great leaders also exercised their administrative prowess in this same city. These include Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief Ladoke Akintola, both successive premiers of the old Western Region of Nigeria. The duo set the region on sound footing in areas of education, politics, health and other social services. They gave their all in the laying of solid foundation for the survival of our country.
“It is in line of the strategic position of Ibadan in our national history that the commission considered siting a zone here for effective coordination of our activities, particularly in the states across the South West of Nigeria.
“It may interest you to know that the EFCC has particularly benefited from the great visions of these above-mentioned great leaders. It is not an accident, therefore, that this premises housing our Ibadan zonal office today originally belongs to Chief Akintola. Again, the property immediately on the right side of our Ibadan office belongs to Chief Awolowo. We feel truly blessed to be hosted by these great achievers of the Yoruba race.”
Magu also thanked strategic stakeholders, including Nigerian press, traditional rulers, civil society organisations, and educational institutions that have been making the efforts of EFCC to yield positive results, adding that “Despite the numerous challenges we face, the commission has remained focused and transparent in our activities. This is why I took you (journalists) round our facilities on arrival. We have made it a point of duty to ensure that no officer infringe on the fundamental human right of any suspect. We ensure constant training for our officers to bring them up-to-date in the internationally-rated crime fighting techniques.”