EFCC says Nigerian officials stole N250 billion in five years

By Elizabeth Archibong

July 25, 2009 01:50PMT

Former governors and other senior government officials have stolen over N250 billion since the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2003, a list released last week by the commission has shown.

The list, which has the names of 50 Nigerians, also shows the status of the cases against them. Top on the list are Ayo Fayose, Bode George, James Ibori, Saminu Turaki and Orji Uzor Kalu.

The commission, according to its chairperson, Farida Waziri, is also reopening in courts cases against some governors that appeared to have met a dead end.

The case of a former governor of Edo State, Lucky Igbinedion, whose case was closed with a fine of N3 million out of an estimated N4.4 billion he allegedly embezzled, is one such case.

Mr. Ibori’s case, which is also feared to have died, has also been reassigned. There has been a lot of controversy on Ibori’s case, as his name was always missing each time a list of people being prosecuted was released.

Some Nigeria newspapers published a list of those being prosecuted about two weeks ago, and Ibori’s name was missing on the list.

A list without the right names

The EFCC spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the published list was not the one released by the commission.

“This was the original list passed out and I was not aware his name was not on the list that was published,” he said. “But this is the list I passed out.” An EFCC agent said while the new list might put to rest allegations that Mrs Farida was protecting Mr. Ibori, it also raises questions as to how Mr. Ibori’s name was always missing when the list was published by the media.

The case of Gabriel Aduku, a former minister of health, has also been put under the spotlight as the court judgment has been put under review.

According to the list, while some of the suspects are still remanded in prison custody, some have since been granted bail by the court but are still undergoing trial.

Nicholas Ugbane, Ndudi Elumelu, Mohammed Jibo, Paulinus Igwe, Samuel Ibi, Aliyu Abdulahi, Simon Nanle, Lawrence Orekoya, Kayode Oyedeji, Lawrence Orekoya, Garki Jahun, Molkat Mufwang, Micheal Aule, Andrew Epkanobi, Alexander Cozman, Tom Iseogohi, Mohammed Buba, Mike Okoli, Albert Ikomi and Yuguda Manu Kaigama were all remanded in prison custody and nearly all of them have been granted bail.

The EFCC said apart from the cases of the former government officials, the commission has, in the last 11 months, recorded over 65 convictions in other cases such as bank fraud, advance fee fraud and cyber crime etc.

It said this figure represents just about one third of the number of convictions recorded by the commission in the last five years.

“In the last 11 months, we have recovered funds and assets of about N50 billion,” the commission said. “We do not create drama for the purpose of sensationalism. We have chosen to work and let our work speak for us.”

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