Former minister, ex-INEC staff stole N7.6bn

Details: Category: Law, Crime & Judiciary; Published on Friday, 06 May 2011 00:21; Written by Admin; Hits: 957

Two unnamed former public officers have been accused by the chairman of the EFCC, Mrs Farida Waziri, of allegedly stealing N7.6 billion.

faridawaziri According to her, “in one case investigated by the commission, a late senior Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) official stole N1.2 billion, while a former minister in an ongoing case stole over N6.4 billion, most of them proceeds ”of contract that had been fully paid for but not yet executed.”

Nigerian Tribune’s findings revealed that the second official was a former minister of northern extraction, who might be arrested by the commission next week.

A competent source told the Nigerian Tribune that the operatives of the EFCC had closed in on him and would soon have his day in court over the alleged N6.4 billion fraud.

Waziri was speaking at a breakfast meeting on Thursday, at the Nigeria-British Chamber of Commerce in Lagos, where he delivered a paper, entitled The EFCC’s critical role in growing the Nigerian economy.

A statement issued by the spokesperson of the EFCC, Mr Femi Babafemi, noted that Waziri also called for a downward review of jumbo salaries and allowances being paid political office holders, noting that “the salaries cannot be justified and must be discontinued.”

Waziri also advocated the setting up of a think tank to monitor implementation and advise government on policies and projects, to stem the trend in which contracts did not reflect on the lives of the people.

She lamented that the abuse of public trust by senior public officials was a major drawback to the developmental efforts of the nation, saying that “the prevention of primitive acquisition of public wealth for private use is, therefore, a major challenge which the EFCC is addressing.”

Meanwhile, Waziri has suggested punitive measures, such as prison sentences on conviction, to stem corruption in Nigeria.

According to her, the problem of corruption in Nigeria was that people manipulated the system and got freed after being arrested for corrupt practices.

She accused the Nigerian elite of having an insatiable appetite for acquisition of property and assets, noting that this was the root of corruption.

“The reason politics in this country is a do-or-die affair is because politicians know that there are no adequate measure to punish corrupt political office holders,” Waziri said. (Tribune)