Foreign countries sabotaging efforts to repatriate Diezani ― Magu

THE Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has alleged that some foreign countries are sabotaging the efforts of the commission to repatriate a former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Allison Madueke.

Magu disclosed this on Wednesday during an official visit to the Ibadan Zonal Office of the commission at Iyaganku GRA, Ibadan.

The EFCC has, in the last five years, been on the trail of the former minister over alleged involvement in corrupt activities.

Magu declared that the Commission suspected sabotage on the part of some foreign countries on Allison-Madueke’s case, wondering why the countries would keep her from them for no reason.

According to him, “they have not taken her to court and this is the fifth year. Why should you be investigating a case for five years? It is a straight toward case and not murder case which takes long processes.

“You know it is a financial crime investigation. It is a straight forward case. If you don’t have sufficient evidence to take her to court, bring her back. We have more than enough evidence to take her to court.

“I don’t know why they are protecting her. Release her and let her come back to Nigeria. They are giving her protection for whatever reason known to them.

“They are yet to declare any pieces of evidence recovered against her. They are still relying on our evidence,” he said.

The EFCC boss said that the whistle-blower policy is still very active and operational. He, however, blamed the slow pace of its implementation on court processes.

“The whistle-blower policy is still active. It is still working. The only thing is that it has been slowed down because you need to go through all the court process.

ALSO READ: NDLEA arrests 249 suspects, seizes 426.5kg illicit drugs in Anambra

“We have to exhaust the court processes. The court will have to declare the amount recovered as loot before the whistle-blower gets his or her own share,” he said.

Magu said that the agency was collaborating with all stakeholders including the media in the fight against corruption.

“We are collaborating with everybody. We are collaborating with Nigerians in the diaspora, those who live outside. We are collecting a lot of information from them and that is our strength in getting them.

“We also want to collaborate with Nigerians in Nigeria so that they will give us information to expose looters and get them to return their loots,” he said.

He said that the agency has relations with the Federal Bureau of Information (FBI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the US as well as other security agencies in other countries.

On the recent raid of an Ibadan night club by EFCC operatives, he explained that there was nothing wrong in raiding suspected internet fraudsters at the night club.

Magu noted that the efforts of the commission were to evolve ways to rehabilitate and bring them back to the society, adding that they are young intelligent Nigerians who are still useful to the society.

“We go against fraudsters who made their money illegally, and we only do that when we have actionable intelligence,” he said.

He appreciated the media for their support and partnership, describing them as essential partners in the anti-corruption crusade.

Magu commended Ibadan zone for the unprecedented achievements recorded so far and the transformation at the office complex.

He also noted that despite several challenges in carrying out its duty, EFCC “has remained focused and transparent in our activities.”

He added that, “this is why I took you round our facilities on arrival. We have made it a point of duty to ensure that no officer infringes on the fundamental human rights of any suspect. We ensure constant training for our officers to bring them up-to-date in the internationally-rated crime-fighting techniques.

“The year 2019 was a great year for our commission as we recorded a number of unprecedented successes.

“The year 2020 promises to be better and greater as we are poised to work harder and intensify efforts in stamping out corruption in our dear country. We will be harder on looters. We will pursue them more vigorously and ensure that they return their loots. We promise Nigerians that we will maintain our standard of ensuring that there is no sacred cow in the fight against corruption.

“It is in line with this spirit that the commission is starting the year’s milestone events with a specially-packaged 10 million-man March Against Corruption. Slated for February 14, 2020, the march is organised in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

“The Nigerian youths will be the core drivers of this march and it holds simultaneously across all states of the federation.”