There were indications on
Wednesday that the 27-man task force investigating the $2.1bn arms procurement
scandal under the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration had traced
N400m to the account of a serving army officer.
It was gathered on Wednesday that the EFCC operatives
were still investigating the account of the officer, who featured in the
procurement of arms in the immediate past administration.
It was also learnt that the
commission would next week invite nine prominent northerners, who were
mentioned in a letter which a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party’s
Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, wrote to the anti-graft agency.
A senior operative of the
commission said the EFCC was still probing other accounts of the army officer
with a view to finding out if more discoveries could be made.
The EFCC operative, who
confided in The PUNCH, said the commission was planning to
make a series of arrests in security circles very soon.
The source added, “The
commission has traced N400m to the account of a serving security operative. The
shocking discovery was made just before the New Year.
“Efforts are still being made
on more investigation into the matter. The motive is to go after some of these
funds that are in private accounts.”
However, the source was silent
on whether the security personnel had been picked up or not.
The EFCC had picked up a
serving Colonel and a German citizen in connection with the ongoing
investigation into arms procured under the Jonathan administration.
Sources said the duo were
still being detained in connection with the training of 750 special forces in
Belarus in 2015.
A top operative of the
commission had, on Monday, said the commission had written to the Defence
Headquarters and the heads of the three services of the Armed Forces for the
release of some personnel needed by the anti-graft agency to shed light on
their roles in arms procurement in the past administration.
The Defence Headquarters on
Monday had said the military would not tolerate corruption, which it noted had
retarded the development of the country.
The Acting Director, Defence
Information, Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar, had told one of our
correspondents on the telephone that the military was fully in support of the
Federal Government’s campaign against corruption.
Another source in the EFCC on
Wednesday said the commission was working on the letter it received from
Anenih.
Anenih had, in the letter,
explained how he shared N260m paid into his account by the Office of the
National Security Adviser during the tenure of Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).
He had allegedly written that
he gave N63m to a group, coordinated by a former Special Assistant to former
President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai.
“We are working on the letter
and next week, we may write Yakassai and others, whose names featured in it,”
said the source.
But Yakassai has denied
receiving N63m from Anenih as personal money.
Yakassai said this in a
telephone interview with two of our correspondents on Wednesday.
He explained that while it was
true that he received an amount of money from Anenih for an assignment, the
money was not up to the amount quoted.
Pressed to say how much he
received, Yakassai said he was not at liberty to say this, claiming the matter
was in court.
He explained that each of the
parties would tender his evidence in court when the case would come up.
Yakassai said, “The amount
being bandied about is not what was given to me. It is true Chief Anenih gave
the committee of eminent persons, which I headed some funds for our assignment.
The money being quoted is not what we received.
“The committee of nine
persons, which I led, was given an assignment to reach out to traditional
rulers on the need for them to ensure peaceful elections in their domains
because there was tension prior to the 2015 general elections.
“We went round 18 states and
Abuja where we met two persons in each of the states we visited. We started
with the Sultan of Sokoto.We could not meet with traditional rulers in Gombe
because on the day of our visit, Boko Haram attacked the town and there were
reports that they were targeting the Government House, where we were at that
time.
“The money the committee
received was for logistics, such as transport and accommodation. We wrote a
report after our assignment, which started on January 14 and ended on February
15, 2015; the records are there.”
The elder statesman said he
was prepared to defend the activities of the committee when required to do so,
stressing that the committee performed its assignment creditably and
transparently.
Efforts to get reactions from
the EFCC had not succeeded as of the time of sending this report as calls to
the mobile set of its spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, did not connect.
Meanwhile, the national
leadership of the PDP has said it is not against the prosecution of those who
looted funds meant for the purchase of arms to prosecute the war against Boko
Haram.
The party added that rather,
those responsible for the looting of the funds should be properly punished to
serve as a deterrent to others.
Deputy National Publicity
Secretary of the PDP, Alhaji Ibrahim Jalo, stated this in an interview with our
correspondent in Abuja.
Jalo said it was wrong to
assume that the party was supporting corruption, adding that no member of the
party, currently being prosecuted for alleged corruption, had claimed to have
received any money on behalf of the party.
Jalo said the arraignment of
members of the party for corruption-related offences had not affected the
integrity of the party.
He said, “Those being
investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and whose accounts
huge sum of money were found had not claimed that they received the money or
the contract on behalf of the party.
“All of them that received
contracts did so with their personal companies.
“It will therefore be wrong to
assume that the wrongs of few members of the party were enough to tarnish the
image of the party that had united Nigerians. PDP remains a clean party.
“But we would insist that
those who looted funds meant for the procurement of arms meant to fight Boko
Haram should be punished.
“We, however, urged the
Federal Government to follow the rule of law and allow the courts to determine
the guilt or otherwise of all accused persons.”
Some members of the party are
currently being prosecuted for allegedly benefiting from the money meant to
procure arms for the fight against insurgency in the North-East.
Among those currently facing
different charges before different courts in Abuja are the Acting Chairman of
the BoT of the party, Alhaji Haliru Bello; a former National Security Adviser
to the President, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.); a former governor of Sokoto State,
Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa; a former Minister of State for Finance, Amb. Bashir
Yuguda; and the founder of Daar Communications Plc, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi.
The National Publicity
Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, is currently being detained by the
EFCC over alleged corruption.
But Jalo insisted that while
the accused persons remained innocent until proven otherwise by the court, he
pleaded that the PDP should not be dragged into their different cases.
He said the party was proud of
the achievements of former Goodluck Jonathan, who he said, worked hard to see
an end to insurgency in the North-East.
Jalo said, “Former President
Jonathan gave out money to fight insurgency, but if there were people who ate
the money and didn’t use it for the purpose, they should be tried.
“No one had given money to the
party. No money had been traced to the party’s account. Money meant for the
party would not be given to individuals.”
In a related development,
Dokpesi has described the alleged missing $2.1bn arms fund as a hoax.
He said Nigerians would soon
know that the charges were meant to decimate the leadership and membership of
the opposition party.
Dokpesi spoke in Abuja when
members of the PDP Youth Vanguard named him as the group’s patron.
He said, “Our party is indeed
experiencing a massive persecution, political repression and vendetta of the
kind never before seen on our shores, targeted at the leadership, membership
and indeed sympathisers of the PDP by the All Progressives Congress government
of the day.
“I speak with regard to
several matters before the law courts of our country concerning the PDP members
and especially my humble self on charges filed against us by the Federal
Government.
“I must hasten to assure you
that there is nothing like the much-flaunted $2.1b arms gate. The competent
courts of our land would sooner or later prove this coinage, aimed at
decimating the leadership and membership of our great party, to be nothing but
a hoax.”
Dokpesi told the youths group
that the PDP had not and would not die.
In another twist, a former
Special Adviser to Jonathan on Political Matters, Mr. Ahmed Gulak, has called
on members of the party and the BoT to elect a substantive party chairman.
Gulak, during a briefing in
Abuja on Wednesday, reminded members of the party of the court ruling,
restraining former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, from
parading himself as the PDP acting National Chairman.
He said the party currently
lacked genuine leader as there was no legally recognized chairman that would
pilot the affairs of the party.
A verdict by Justice Hussein
Baba of the High Court, Federal Capital Territory, had ordered Secondus to
vacate the PDP chairmanship seat within 14 days.
The court order followed a
suit filed by Gulak, where the court ruled that Secondus assumed the headship
of the party through an illegitimate process.
However, Gulak said he should
be elected as the new party chairman or any other eligible person from the
North-East zone.
He said, “It is necessary for
me to let the fact of my matter with PDP be known to all PDP members across the
country.
“On December 16, 2015,
consequent upon the suit I filed against Secondus, the then acting chairman of
the PDP, the court gave judgment, declaring the continuous existence of Secondus
as chairman as null and void and ordered a perpetual injunction against him,
parading himself as acting chairman.
“The court gave 14 days,
within which the party should either appoint me or any other person from the
North-East geo-political zone as the acting chairman.
“Fourteen days from the date
of judgment expired on December 29, 2015. As it is today, the party has no
properly constituted organ. The National Executive Committee, National Working
Committee and the national caucus, which by the constitution of our party, must
at all times, every time, be chaired by a national chairman or acting chairman.
“As it is today, we don’t have
a national chairman or acting chairman by the court order and as such, the
organs of the party are not properly constituted in view of the constitutional
provisions.
“Again, the BoT, whose acting
chairman’s tenure expired in August, is also not properly constituted. I call
all the BoT members of our party to attend the January 14 meeting and let them
elect among them, their chairman so that at least, one of our important organs
can be properly constituted.”
In another development, the
Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, has said the commission will not
spare any bureau de change operator involved in the ongoing $2.1bn arms
procurement scam.
Magu said some BDC operators
were alleged to have been involved in the fraudulent diversion of funds meant
for arms procurement in the last administration.
He added that some of the
operators were discovered to have withdrawn N500m in two to four tranches per
day in the funds under investigation.
He called for a proper
documentation of the activities of the operators as a way of preventing them
from carrying out financial operations to the detriment of society.
Magu stressed that the BDC
operators were allegedly taking huge amount of money outside the country since
the government’s policy, restricting people from withdrawing more than $300 per
day abroad with ATM cards, became operational.
The Head of Media and
Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, quoted Magu to have made the
comment when the BDC operators, led by their Chairman, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe,
paid a courtesy call on him in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said, “My operatives often
tell me what they see during investigations. We need to talk to you, as some of
your operators are fond of carrying huge amounts of money out of the country
since they can no longer withdraw more than $300 using the ATM.
‘‘There are fraudulent
involvements of Bureau De Change operators in the arms deal scandal. There are
reports of some of your members withdrawing as much as N500m in two, three,
four tranches in this arms deal scam.”
Source: The Punch
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