The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may not give up on its bid to interrogate the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, over his role in the N10 billion loan scam.
An insider source at the commission informed reporter that the EFCC was ready to use the Speaker as a test case, especially as he has shunned its invitation for the second time.
“Bankole will be a test case. Every minute he spends outside, he is doing something to see if he can evade the interrogation but there is nothing he can do,” the source hinted.
In Abuja yesterday, the EFCC held a press conference to inform the public of the activities of some allegedly compromised leaders of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), who it said had mobilised some civil society groups in Lagos to fault the genuine activities of the commission.
EFCC spokesman, Femi Babafemi, who addressed the press conference, told journalists that the activities of the group, which were being held under the guise of an anti-corruption campaign, were actually to present EFCC as wanting to tarnish the image of some individuals because the commission was currently investigating a “high profile case.”
As regards Bankole’s refusal to appear before the agency, Babafemi said: “We are not silent. Investigation is ongoing. We will not open up our line of action. The case is not closed.”
On former governors, Babafemi, who would not mention names, simply said that “those that have cases with the commission, the commission is on them. In the coming days you will see certain developments. When they are being invited you will know the ex-governors.”
He added that the EFCC was filing an appeal on the court ruling concerning the case of the former Edo State Governor, Lucky Igbinedion, as well as prosecution of the former governor’s brother.
When asked where recovered funds were kept, Babafemi who had said that the commission had so far recovered N975 billion or $6.5 billion between June 2008 and March 2011, said that such monies were kept in designated Federal Government’s accounts or returned to victims.
Much of the recovery had been made in the banking sector, which accounted for N650 billion of the recovered funds. He noted that the amount recovered from the former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank, Cecilia Ibru, was being managed by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
Babafemi called on well-meaning civil society organisations to call the Supo Ojo-led CDHR to order as it had no genuine intention to assess the nation’s anti-graft war “but has instead offered itself as a platform to fight a proxy war for a high profile suspect in a case the commission is investigating.”
Meanwhile, speaking during a joint meeting held in Lagos yesterday, Ojo said President Goodluck Jonathan should show more commitment to wiping out corruption in the system by putting measures in place to monitor and enforce integrity of public officers.
Ojo also called for the removal of plea bargain in corrupt cases. “This idea has not in any way helped in the fight against the endemic monster called corruption in our system,” he said.
He also suggested that the Federal Government should consider the option of setting up a special court for the trial of corrupt cases instead of the delay of such cases in the normal courts.
An insider source at the commission informed reporter that the EFCC was ready to use the Speaker as a test case, especially as he has shunned its invitation for the second time.
“Bankole will be a test case. Every minute he spends outside, he is doing something to see if he can evade the interrogation but there is nothing he can do,” the source hinted.
In Abuja yesterday, the EFCC held a press conference to inform the public of the activities of some allegedly compromised leaders of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), who it said had mobilised some civil society groups in Lagos to fault the genuine activities of the commission.
EFCC spokesman, Femi Babafemi, who addressed the press conference, told journalists that the activities of the group, which were being held under the guise of an anti-corruption campaign, were actually to present EFCC as wanting to tarnish the image of some individuals because the commission was currently investigating a “high profile case.”
As regards Bankole’s refusal to appear before the agency, Babafemi said: “We are not silent. Investigation is ongoing. We will not open up our line of action. The case is not closed.”
On former governors, Babafemi, who would not mention names, simply said that “those that have cases with the commission, the commission is on them. In the coming days you will see certain developments. When they are being invited you will know the ex-governors.”
He added that the EFCC was filing an appeal on the court ruling concerning the case of the former Edo State Governor, Lucky Igbinedion, as well as prosecution of the former governor’s brother.
When asked where recovered funds were kept, Babafemi who had said that the commission had so far recovered N975 billion or $6.5 billion between June 2008 and March 2011, said that such monies were kept in designated Federal Government’s accounts or returned to victims.
Much of the recovery had been made in the banking sector, which accounted for N650 billion of the recovered funds. He noted that the amount recovered from the former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank, Cecilia Ibru, was being managed by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
Babafemi called on well-meaning civil society organisations to call the Supo Ojo-led CDHR to order as it had no genuine intention to assess the nation’s anti-graft war “but has instead offered itself as a platform to fight a proxy war for a high profile suspect in a case the commission is investigating.”
Meanwhile, speaking during a joint meeting held in Lagos yesterday, Ojo said President Goodluck Jonathan should show more commitment to wiping out corruption in the system by putting measures in place to monitor and enforce integrity of public officers.
Ojo also called for the removal of plea bargain in corrupt cases. “This idea has not in any way helped in the fight against the endemic monster called corruption in our system,” he said.
He also suggested that the Federal Government should consider the option of setting up a special court for the trial of corrupt cases instead of the delay of such cases in the normal courts.
No comments:
Post a Comment