ACTING President Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday, met with heads of anti-corruption and security agencies.
The meeting, which took place in his office, lasted about two hours and had in attendance Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal; Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami; acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu; chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and related Offenses Commission (ICPC), Ekpo Nta; Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris and the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Lawal Daura.
When approached after the meeting, Magu told State House correspondents that the present economic recession in the country was caused by corruption.
“I am asking all Nigerians to join in the fight against corruption, adults, children, men, women and including you, journalists.
“Corruption is the greatest menace we are facing in the country. Corruption is responsible for the recession we are witnessing today. So, all Nigerians must join in the fight against.”
On his part, the IGP was asked about the accusation made by the People Democratic Party (PDP) about the bastardisation of the police as a result of its handling of the Rivers State election rerun investigation, but parried the question, saying “what’s your own assessment?”
Also, Magu, in his presentation to the House Committee chaired by Honourable Kayode Oladele, showed that the commission recovered billions of naira and foreign currencies of different denominations.
The recovered money was proceeds of crime between January and December 2016 which included N102,913,791,217.54; $8,296,313.99; GBP 29,155; £12,475; 117,004 Canadian Dollar; 806.50 DIRHAM; 5,000 FRANCS and 2,000 RUPEE.
The EFCC boss informed the committee that the sum of $9.750 million and £750,000 were recovered from a residence in Kaduna, stressing that N1.25 billion was also recovered from a public servant.
Magu, who was before the Honourable Kayode Oladele-headed House Committee on Financial Crimes during the 2016 budget appraisal and 2017 budget defence, also confirmed the recovery.
The commission secured 135 convictions, according the records, out of which 46 were from Lagos zone, 30 from Abuja zone, 22 from Port Harcourt zone, 19 from Kano zone, 15 from Enugu zone and three from Gombe zone.
In order to boost its fight against corruption the commission informed the House committee the need to increase the Personnel Cost from N7. 127 billion to N9.692 billion to accommodate the 1 ,500 new recruits whose estimated emoluments is N2.565 billion.
He also asked for an increase in Capital allocation by N1.790 billion to accommodate additional cost of work on the New Head Office of the Commission amongst other requests.
Earlier, the chairman of the Committee, Hon. Kayode Oladele lauded the achievement of the anti-graft agency in its fight against corruption, saying, “For the first time in Nigeria’s history, anti- corruption searchlights have been beamed on the judiciary and the revelations have been mind- boggling. In addition, similar exercises in the arms procurement process by the Nigeria military have also led to several arrests”
According to him, “Our collective efforts to unleash sustainable development in Nigeria through the rooting out of corruption will not produce the desired result if Nigeria is unable to transact in the international market place without let or hindrance”.
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