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Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has beamed its searchlight on a
former First Lady of Nigeria as the war on corruption continues.
The wife of a former president of Nigeria may soon be invited by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to give certain
explanation on her role in the sourcing and disbursement of the huge
funds spent by the Presidency two weeks before the 2015 general
elections, a The Sun report has shown.
According to the report, the money, estimated at over a trillion
naira, was routed and disbursed through the Amnesty Office to some
notable politicians in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Investigators of the disbursement observed that the release of
about 40 per cent of the funds was authorized by the former First Lady.
Sources revealed that the failure of the former head of the
presidential Amnesty Programme to return to the country has obstructed
investigations on how the funds were realized “because he allegedly disbursed the bulk of the money, which was not part of the funds allocated to his office.”
It was learnt that the Amnesty boss who will be defending 14
petitions written to the EFCC against him, departed the country
immediately after the preliminary investigations into the sourcing and
disbursement of funds for the elections.
According to a source, “Ordinarily, he should have been here to
defend himself against the petitions, but he has refused to show up. It
is highly suspected that he is not in any hospital. It was all a dummy
be sold to Nigerians. He left this country as soon as he sensed the EFCC
may invite him to explain his role in the funds disbursement.”
Consequently, some of his aides, including personal assistants and
drivers, have been interrogated on the matter. The investigating team
would also want to ascertain his interest in an airline that operates in
South Africa with about 12 aircraft.
Mr Wilson Uwujare, EFCC’s spokesman, could not be reached for comments on the matter before Press time.
It is popular knowledge that in the past few months, the present
administration has intensified its hunt for public funds suspected to
have been looted from government coffers, especially during the
immediate past administration.
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