Reps want CBN Gov to tell all he knows about $43m Ikoyigate stash

As part of its efforts to unravel details surrounding the $43m discovered in an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos, the House of Representatives has identified the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, as a relevant stakeholder whose views on the matter would be required.

Sani Jaji, Chairman, House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, made this known after its committee met behind closed doors with the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, on Friday, vowing that the committee will do everything within its power to ensure that the owner of the luxury apartment and the huge cash is identified.

He said the committee’s work would continue despite the claims by the suspended Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayo Oke, that the seized cash by the EFCC belonged to the Agency.

Jaji said that Magu had provided the committee with some vital information which will support the investigation’s objectives, before hinting at a possible meeting with the CBN governor within the week.

He stated that, “In continuation of the mandate given the Committee by the House, we just met with the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in relation to the $43m discovered in an apartment in Ikoyi and the meeting was very fruitful.

“We have been meeting with relevant stakeholders concerned in this matter before now, having met with Mr. Magu, it is our resolve to pursue this matter to a logical conclusion because more revelations are coming out.

“It should be understandable that we cannot come out with some of these facts now since the investigation is not concluded yet, but it is our mandate to find out the owner of that apartment and the ownership of the money, notwithstanding that the Nigerian Intelligence Agency NIA has laid claim to both.

“Notwithstanding the sensitivity of the assignment, the EFCC has been able to give us some important information in relation to the money. We were told what led to the operation, how it was carried out. We were even obliged with pre and post operation information that would definitely be of immense boost to the investigation.

“I think we are heading somewhere different from where we are today. What has emerged now is that the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele would have to appear the Committee and that is going to be next (this) week. His submission will be very important to this investigation”.

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Asked whether the suspended NIA boss would be invited by the committee, the chairman said it would be decided on after members looked at some important information collected.

“Since the agency claimed to own the money, it is pertinent for the Committee to be in a vantage position to be able to proceed from informed point based on the submissions of the previous invited stakeholders.

“Definitely, after the invitation of the CBN governor, the Committee will then decide when to invite the suspended DG and it is afterwards that we can now come up with a comprehensive report which will be available to all Nigerians after the House might have considered and adopted it.

“We must however have at the back of our minds that the essence of the exercise is the protection of our institutions and should not be allowed to public ridicule”, he said.

Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had in April this year suspended the NIA boss alongside Babachir Lawal, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

The president had set up a three-man panel chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to investigate Oke over the Ikoyi cash, and Lawal over the N200 million grass-cutting scandal involving the North East Presidential Initiative (PINE).

It has been about three months since that committee was set up and many wonder why it is yet to brief the public on the status of its work, noting that the continued secrecy raises transparency and accountability concerns.

 

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