After returning to Nigeria from abroad, the former Governor of Jigawa State, promised that he would pay a visit to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) this Thursday to follow up with ongoing EFCC investigations he is implicated in.
He stated that because the EFCC is the government's anti-graft agency, and commissioned by law, there was no reason he would deny the invitation. Lamido is willing to honor the invitation and claims he would have also gone if he was still a Governor with immunity.
During the period Lamido was in office, Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company was awarded contracts of about N13.5 billion. The State Government paid for these contracts.
In 2014 the EFCC discovered that Mr. Lamido and his sons used their positions to seize Jigawa State funds. N1.3 billion from the construction firm Dantata and Sawoe was paid into the accounts that the former Governor and his sons had interests in. The EFCC arrested Mr. Lamido's sons, Mustapha and Aminu, in 2013. However, their father, Sule Lamido, enjoyed full immunity.
Martin Elechi, the previous Governor of Ebonyi State, is also under corruption investigation and interrogation by the EFCC.
Until recently, Mr. Elechi had not honored the EFCC's invitation. Instead, his lawyer sent notification to the agency that Elechi was not available at the time they wanted to question him.
In January, the EFCC also interrogated Elechi's son, Nnanna Elechi, over fraud allegations.
Nnanna was said to have profited from State and Local Government contracts.
Prior to May 29th, Elechi was a former Governor who could not face any charges the anti-graft agency threw his way; he had constitutional immunity against legal prosecution. However, now that he is no longer in office the EFCC is resuming its investigation in full.
The EFCC has also questioned the Secretary of the State Ministry of Works, Cornelius Onwe, the State's Accountant General, Edwin Igbele, the Commissioner for Finance, Timothy Ogbonnaya Odaa, and the Commission for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Cele Nwali.
All those mentioned above were suspected to partake in fraud concerning the Asphalt Project. It is probable that millions of naira were deducted from several Local Government accounts.
Source: Sahara Reporters
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