It has emerged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),
which is seeking to interrogate the sacked Director General of the
Department of State Services (DSS), Lawal Daura, has spread its
investigations to cover spendings by the service under the
administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and the funds inherited by
Daura from his predecessor.
Sources close to commission told the
Sunday Tribune at the weekend that investigators of the EFCC have
zeroed on funds Daura received from the previous administration and what
exactly happened to the funds.
Following the interrogation of
the former Director General of the DSS, Mr. Ita Ekpeyong, it emerged
that the service actually returned more than N3 billion unspent
operations funds during the period.
The EFCC has also received details of the funds inherited by Daura.
A
source in the commission said following the failure of the
investigators to make expected discoveries when the searched the home of
Daura, attention has now been zeroed in on what happened to the funds
he inherited from Ekpetong.
It was learnt that the need to get to
the roots of every kobo handed over by Ekpeyong necessitated the search
of his house, his interrogation and the decision to place him on stand
by for further investigations.
A source in the know said: “With
the apparent lack of substantial evidence in the searches conducted so
far in the residences and guest houses of Daura, investigating
authorities are holding on to suspected depletion of funds he took over
from his predecessor, Ekpenyong Ita.
“The monies handed over are a
public knowledge. When the director general of such Service hands over,
copies are customarily sent to the President, the National Security
Adviser, the Service itself, the incoming and outgoing directors general
would have their copies.”
The source said that some of the funds
already accounted for included the various sums $21.23m and N12.96
billion in pension fund, N2.2 billion in serial account, and another
N2.2 billion earmarked for insurance.
There are different other
us heads totaling about 20, a source at the EFCC said, adding that
Ekpeyong has actually been cooperating with investigators by appearing
at the Commission’s headquarters almost every other day.
Sources
said while the EFCC was actually not probing the operations accounts of
the DSS, it’s investigators were worried about some bulk movements.
For
instance, a source said that there may be questions as to why the
accounts of the commission stood at about N6 billion as of June this
year from the N12.9 billion that was handed over by Ekpeyong.
The investigators are concerned and checking out if the funds were diverted and who authorised such
“The
EFCC is only interested in just some basic questions that he (Daura)
may need to provide answers to. Mind you, this is not a probe of the
DSS, we are only seeking clarifications,” a source said.
The
ongoing probe is, however, said to be causing some confusion in
Intelligence circles following reports that President Muhammadu Buhari
had last year given a directive that probes of DSS, the National
Intelligence Agency(NIA) and other Secret services would only be
undertaken by close insiders in order not to expose Nigeria to ridicule
and suspicion by the global Intelligence networks.
Sources in the
administration said at the weekend that if the ongoing probe continues,
it could go against against the tide in inquiry into intelligence
matters all over the world.
It was also gathered that the
Ambassador Babagana Kingibe-led Committee, which investigated the NIA
funds discovered in Lagos, had also recommended as such.
It was learnt that the confusion reigning so far could stall further probe and questioning of Daura by the EFCC.
A
source familiar with the situation said: “The committee had advised the
President, and it was approved, that matters of intelligence should be
discreetly handled by a special body of former members of the community
and the report turned in to the President for necessary actions.
“This
(investigations of DSS) would be a clear case of blatant disregard of
the Presidential directive arising from the report of the committee, and
the norm all over the world.
“If it goes this way, nobody would
volunteer information that could be processed into intelligence, there
may be no bilateral collaboration between Nigeria intelligence agencies
and some known cracked foreign agencies in the world like the FBI, CIA,
MI5, MI6 and more, for fear that they could be exposed, compromised and
the lives of their operatives compromised in the course of open probe.
And I know that we (Nigeria) have enjoyed that goodwill over years.
“An
open investigation by outsiders might just be penny wise, pound
foolish. A bubble of pyrrhic victory that would evaporate and expose
Nigeria to ridicule.
“Either way, even if there’s misdemeanour
anywhere, any inquiry without a presidential imprimatur in line with the
world best practices and as recommended by the committee would be a
bastardized effort.”
In furtherance of the ongoing probe of the
blockade of the National Assembly on July 24, sources have confirmed
that suspected collaborators have been cleverly placed on watchlist.
It was confirmed that some of the collaborators allegedly mentioned in the interim report have been placed on watchlist.
The
list of those placed on close watch was said to have been longer then
expected as according to sources, it contained top officials of the
administration suspected to have held secret meetings that led to the
blockade of the legislature are also on the list.
The unusual
thing about this move is that the agency in charge of the close watch is
not your usual agency and the administration is keeping the identity of
the agency under wraps, a source said, adding that the suspects include
heads of some parastatals, and agencies.
“Those involved cannot leave the country for now,” the source said.
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