We didn’t give recovered Alamieyeseigha’s property to Falana —EFCC

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Thursday, denied some report trending on the social media that it handed over some of the property recovered from a former governor of Bayelsa State, the late Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, to Femi Falana.

The anti-corruption commission, in a statement made available to Nigerian Tribune by its Head, Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed that all the property recovered from the former governor, who was at the helms of affairs in Bayelsa State between 1999 and 2005, before he was impeached, had since been handed over to the state government.

It also denied the report that Ola Olukoyede, the Chief of Staff to its acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu, was seconded to the commission from the Femi Falana Chambers.

According to the statement, “our attention has been drawn to a malicious and misleading report trending on the social media platforms that Ola Olukoyede, Chief of Staff, to Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was a staff “seconded” to the commission from the Chambers of Femi Falana.

“The report further alleged that Falana is a beneficiary of some of the property recovered by the Commission from the late Alamieyeseigha, hence the secondment of Olukoyede to the EFCC.

“The allegations are not only unfounded, but evil, as all the property recovered from the former governor have been returned to the Bayelsa State government.

“For the record, Olukoyede was not “seconded” to the EFCC by Falana and he has never worked in Femi Falana’s chambers. He was head hunted based on his pedigree. Even if he had worked for Falana, it may not have mattered, as working for Falana is not a criminal offence in the nation’s statute.”

The statement further stated that the human rights activist was not a counsel for the anti-graft agency, adding that he had never interfered in EFCC’s operations.

“It is also important to state that Falana is not a counsel for the EFCC and has never interfered in the operations of the agency.

“The author of the mischievous and misleading information went ahead to give the telephone number of the Chief of Staff and asked members of the public to call and inquire if he was, indeed, a former staff of Femi Falana chambers. He has, therefore, been bombarded with unsolicited calls by members of the public,” the statement stated.

It, however, warned those behind the report to desist, declaring that “Whoever is behind this criminal act should desist forthwith, as any attempt to further malign the reputation of Olukoyede and the EFCC would not go unchallenged.”