Buhari orders EFCC to trace funds stolen under Jonathan

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences
Commission to compile documents on funds stolen under President Goodluck
Jonathan.

The PUNCH reliably learnt on Sunday that the directive was part of efforts to know the
exact amount stolen under the Jonathan administration with a view to tracing them to
foreign countries.
It was learnt that such documents would be needed by the international community,
which had expressed readiness to assist Nigeria to recover the funds.
Buhari, had in a live programme, Good Morning Nigeria, on the Nigerian Television
Authority, on July 27, said the international community was willing to assist Nigeria to
recover stolen money.
He had said that his administration had started compiling necessary documents that
would enable the international community to assist Nigeria recover the funds.
The President had stated, “We are trying to get these documents; we are getting
cooperation from the international community. We are going very soon to make sure
that those who perpetrated this crime against Nigeria will be faced with facts and be
taken to our courts.”
It was gathered that, in a bid to carry out the presidential directive, the two agencies
had started analysing petitions written against ministries, agencies and departments with
a view to getting the amount stolen and those responsible for it.
An operative of one of the anti-graft agencies, who confided in one of our
correspondents, said the managements of the anti-graft agencies had been engrossed
in a sectorial analysis of petitions received from the various government agencies.
Investigation revealed that the anti-graft bodies were focusing attention on the top
ministries, department and agencies which attracted massive budgetary allocations from
the Federal Government under the previous administration.
The source said that the President’s directive was given shortly before his trip to the
United States on July 20, 2015.
The directive was said to have triggered a flurry of activities among the anti-graft
agencies.
It was further gathered that the Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Larmorde, whose
agency is the bigger of the two agencies, called for all the petitions and files against
the various government bodies with a view to commencing holistic investigations in line
with the government directive.
It was gathered that the files were allocated to the various units of the commission to
commence the process of invitation, and interrogation designed to find out how much
was missing and the process of prosecution.
It was further gathered that the ICPC on its part had been involved in a discreet
investigation of civil servants believed to have acquired a lot of properties in Abuja with
stolen funds.
Several political office holders in the previous administration had been quizzed for
alleged corruption while many are said to be on the waiting list of the EFCC and the
ICPC for interrogation.
The source said, “I think what is happening is not sudden; the President gave an
instruction to the EFCC and the ICPC to ensure that they submit how much has been
stolen in the various sectors of the economy.
“Since then, the Chairman of the EFCC called for all the files of the various agencies;
they are quite many and they were being sifted.
“The ongoing investigation is meant to give the Presidency an idea of what was stolen
within the country and in some cases outside.”
When our correspondent contacted the Resident Consultant, Media and Events of the
ICPC, Mr. Folu Olamiti, he said he would not comment on the story.