The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has vowed to prosecute all Federal lawmakers indicted in the budget padding controversy.
EFCC’s Deputy Director, Operations, Ilayasu Kwarbai, made the disclosure while addressing 32 Civil Society Organizations, CSOs, on Monday at the agency’s zonal office in Lagos.
The 32 CSO’s staged a protest to the commission’s zonal office earlier in the day, demanding the prosecution of those involved in the budget padding scandal raging in the House of Representatives.
Recall that former House of Representatives Committee Chairman on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, had accused the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara; his deputy, Yusuff Lasun; Chief Whip; Ado Doguwa and Minority Leader; Loe Ogor of allegedly inserting over N40bn into the 2016 budget.
Addressing the protesters, Kwarbai said the commission had received many petitions on the allegations, adding that the commission is investigating the matter in Abuja.
According to Kwarbai, “the commission does not cover any one, whoever is involved will be dealt with according to the law.”
He said, “Anybody who is involved in corruption, no matter how highly placed he or she is, we don’t cover any person, once we have received a petition, investigates it and once the person is indicted, we invite the accused and on the case of the budget padding, they will never go free.
“The issue of padding in the National Assembly in which some allegations have been raised against the Speaker and some other persons, we are already in receipt of petitions from some other members of the public and investigation is going on in Abuja.
“We are very happy that you are here and we are in solidarity with you. We are very happy that you are joining us in the fight against corruption. The fight is not for EFCC alone, it is for everybody.”
