Senators, yesterday, gave the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, one week to submit details of all loots recovered by the commission, so far.
The lawmakers handed down the directive when Magu and other EFCC officials appeared before the Committee on Anti-Corruption, headed by Senator Chukwuka Utazi, to defend the commission’s 2017 budget estimates.
“You have one week to submit details of all recoveries you have made till date,” Utazi told the EFCC boss.
The lawmakers also expressed outrage at the phenomenal level of looting and stealing of government monies by serving and past officials and charged the EFCC to go after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and look for culprits and make them face the law.
The senators also urged the EFCC to go after serving directors, permanent secretaries, procurement officials and others within the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government.
They said the monumental stealing of government money, by officials, is partly responsible for the current recession in the country.
A member of the committee, Senator Isa Misau, who spoke first, told Magu to move against looting by government officials and expressed surprise at how a former Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) group managing director, Andrew Yakubu allegedly kept $9.7 million, £74, 000 and a huge amount of naira in a private residence.
Misau said “the level of stealing of government funds with impunity has reached an alarming rate such that the amount of dollars in circulation in Nigeria is more than what the United States Central Bank can boast of.”
He bemoaned a situation in Nigeria, where the dollar and other foreign currencies stashed in secret places are not being used for trading and business transactions to promote the economy.
He said those in possession of foreign currencies are taking advantage of the loopholes in the CBN to exploit the national economy through the parallel market for quick gains.
He lamented that government officials, past and present, with ill-got wealth, are the ones who own properties in choice areas of Abuja and other Nigerians cities.
He disclosed how many of such buildings litter the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT), Abuja, most especially, Maitama, Asokoro, Utako and other places, with most of them unoccupied since the past five years.
“We have a lot of people who buy property running into billions of naira and they pay in cash. And, today, we have such property everywhere, in Maitama, Asokoro, Utako and other places not occupied.
“It is painful that EFCC would just arrest some of these people and, after a week in custody, release them on bail. At the end, nothing is heard about the cases. This is not what we want in Nigeria. We urge you, EFCC, to look at the law and come up with a proposed amendment, which will enable you hold those who steal government’s money in custody for longer period.
However, committee chairman, Utazi, hailed EFCC’s efforts in the fight against corruption and charged the officials to always do the needful in the fight to save Nigeria from the pang of corruption.
He, however, said Senate will be prepared to support the commission “in every area necessary,” to make it discharge its duties in accordance with the law.
