Senate demands details of recovered loots from EFCC boss Magu

The Senate on Monday told the Acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu to within one week, submit details of all recovered loots the commission has made till date.

It gave the charge to the anti-graft commission when Magu and other EFCC officials appeared before the Committee on Anti-Corruption headed by Senator Chukwuka Utazi for the 2017 budget defence.

“You have one week to submit the details of all the recoveries you have made till date,” Utazi told the EFCC boss.

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) to 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 monies by officials has been partly responsible for the current recession bedeviling the country.

Senator Isa Misau who was the first to release the salvo, told Magu to move against looting by government officials. He expressed surprise at how a former NNPC Group Managing Director, Mr Andrew Yakubu allegedly kept up to $9.7 million, £74, 000 and some huge amount of Naira in a private residence.

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He said the level of stealing of government funds with impunity has reached an alarming level in Nigeria such that the amount of dollars in circulation in Nigeria is much more than what the US Central Bank could boast of.

He lamented that in Nigeria today, the dollar and other foreign currencies being stashed in secret places are not being used for trading and business transactions to promote the economy.

According to him, those who are in possession of foreign currencies after exploiting the loopholes in the CBN, have rather been exploiting the national economy because they channel them through the parallel market to make quick gains.

Government officials, past and present, with ill-gotten wealth, are the ones who own choice properties in exclusive areas of Abuja and other Nigerian cities, he lamented.

He said many of such buildings litter the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT), Abuja, most especially, Maitama, Asokoro, Utako and other places, most of them unoccupied since the past five years.

“We have a lot of these people who buy properties running to billions of naira and they pay in cash. And today, we have such properties everywhere, Maitama, Asokoro, Utako and other places not occupied,” he said.

“It is painful that EFCC would just arrest some of these people and after a week in custody release them on bail and at the end, nothing is heard about their cases. This is not what we want in Nigeria.

“We urge you EFCC to look into law and come up with a proposed amendment to enable you hold those who steal government’s money in custody for longer period. If you can steal billions of naira and then you spend only one week in EFCC custody and you go home, more people would be encouraged to loot and steal more,” he added.

However, the Committee Chairman, hailed EFCC’s efforts on the fight against corruption and charged the officials to always do the needful in the fight to save Nigeria from the pang of corruption.

Utazi, however said the Senate would any day be prepared to support the EFCC in every area necessary to make it discharge its duties in accordance with the law.

 

 

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