Senate to invoke powers to arrest ex-EFCC boss, Lamorde

Angered by his inability to show up before its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions when invited, the Senate is looking into how it can issue a warrant of arrest on the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde.

The federal upper chamber on Thursday asked the committee to examine relevant Sections of the Constitution that empowered it to issue a warrant of arrest on Lamorde.

Lamorde was summoned following a petition said to have been submitted by Mr. George Uboh, Chief Executive Officer of a security firm, Panic Alert Security Systems, who alleged that Lamorde had diverted part of funds recovered from some suspects amounting to about N2 billion.

Chairman of the investigative Committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, who presented his committee’s report to Senate in plenary said that the former EFCC boss failed to honour series of invitations to tell his own side of the story on the allegations levelled against him by Dr. Uboh.

The committee chairman specifically referred to three letters of invitation written to invite Lamorde to appear before the committee dated 19th August 2015, 3rd November 2015 and 11 November, 2015 which he said did not convince Lamorde to appear before the Ethics and Privileges Committee.

He noted that on receiving the letter of invitation dated 19th August, 2015 from the Committee, Lamorde wrote the Committee through his Special Assistant claiming (1) “That due to time constraint and the nature of their operations, the EFCC Chairman was unable to appear before the Committee, and suggested 31st September, 2015 as a more convenient date he would appear before the Committee;

Anyanwu told the Senate that after his committee digested the contents of Mr. Lamorde’s response, it again invited Mr. Lamorde to appear before it, advising him not to confuse the invitation of an investigative committee to appear before it to say his own side of the story as a public servant over a serious allegation against his person, with EFCC’s routine annual report responsibility to the National Assembly, or the Senate President’s previous invitation to a briefing.

Read also: Alleged N1tn fraud: Senate to probe EFCC boss, Lamorde

The Committee chairman said that Lamorde further responded through his Special Assistant “That he was at St. Petersbury, Russia, attending the 8th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA) and that he had been there since 29th October, 2015.”

Anyanwu said that Lamorde again requested for a new date and time to enable him to honour the invitation.

He noted that when the committee received Mr. Lamorde’s second letter of excuse, it decided to write a third letter of invitation dated 11 November, 2015; this time, threatening that it would no longer accept flimsy excuses for his non appearance.

He said that the Committee was forced to conclude that Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde wants to evade investigation by the Committee.

Anyanwu noted that “Consequently, the Committee reasoned that the only way to get the former EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, to appear before it was to invoke the powers of the Senate in Section 89(1c&d) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and compel his appearance.”

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