The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and governors of the 36 states of the federation are flexing muscles at each other over the alleged diversion of the refund made to states from the excess charges of Paris Club.
While the EFCC has since swung into action to investigate the alleged fraud, the governors said that they are ready to take on the EFCC on the matter.
The governors, under the umbrella of Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), who met in the early hours of today, Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that they are waiting to see what the anti-graft agency would come up with.
Answering questions from news men after the meeting, Chairman of the NGF and Zamfara state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, said the governors are ready for the EFCC probe even as he made it clear that all the governors are in support of the present administration’s war against corruption.
He declared: “We discussed the issue of Paris Club and London Club. We observed that EFCC said it is doing investigations. Yeah, we support the federal government for fighting corruption.
“We are waiting for the EFCC to come up with what they say is the investigation and come up with the result.”
Reports emerged last week that the NGF may have used fictitious consultants to divert some of the money from Paris Club which had attracted the attention of the EFCC.
Worried by the development, the Presidency ordered a full scale investigation into the disbursement of the funds.
Top Presidency source had confirmed that the federal government is worried that its efforts to ensure the settlement of pension and salaries owed to workers in the states was being sabotaged by likely diversion of the funds earmarked for the purpose.
The Presidency expressed its determination to get to the bottom of the matter and consequently ordered relevant agencies to carry out a full scale probe to unravel any abuse the fund might have been subjected to.
It was also reported that the governors are spoiling for war with the acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, over the decision of the EFCC to investigate alleged diversion of the money, suggesting that the EFCC may have questioned the Director General of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Asishana Okauru, over the use of the possible diversion of funds by state governors as it was believed that the governors may have paid the money to phoney companies.
The reports also fingered the Senate President, Bukola Saraki over the abuse of the funds.
But the governors were said to be fighting back over what they claimed was the unnecessary harassment of members and officials of the NGF.
However, the EFCC has denied that it indicted the 36 state governors and Senate President, Bukola Saraki for allegedly pocketing large slices of the Paris loan refund.
A media report on an online medium had alleged that the governors’ forum championed a five percent deduction of the funds paid to the states whereby some governors got about N400 million while Saraki got N2.5billion.
In the report, the EFCC was said to have been informed by Okauru that he transferred money to individual governors, through the NGF, though he failed to write an official statement to this effect.
Apparently reacting to the report, EFCC in a statement on its twitter handle, @officialEFCC, said that though investigation was ongoing on the reimbursement paid to state governments for excess Paris club deduction, but that it is yet to indict any governor or Senate President so far.
The EFCC said that the investigation remained at a preliminary stage, even as it frowned at insinuations that it is trying to cover up for some of the officials of the commission.
The commission said that it would brief the public of the results of its investigation as at when due.
The statement read: “The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has been drawn to a report captioned, Nigerian State Governors, Senate President Saraki Pocketed Billions of Naira from Paris Loan Refund, which appeared in the online news portal, Sahara Reporters on Sunday February 12, 2017.
“The report among others claimed that the Commission has indicted all the governors of the 36 states of the Federation and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki in the ongoing investigation of the reimbursement paid to state governments by the Federal Government for excessive deduction charged to them on account of the Paris Club and other international loans.
“The Commission wishes to state unequivocally, that no state governor or Senate President has been indicted so far by the investigation which is still at a preliminary stage. Also, insinuations about cover up by some officials of the Commission are untrue as there is no incentive to do so.” [myad]
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