The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, has said that the Commission will embark on investigation of cases of some politicians who are alleged to have looted the public treasury with a view to ridding the country of corruption.
Lamorde made this declaration on Monday, January 19, 2015 in his office, while receiving a team of investigators from the Metropolitan Police led by Jonathan Benton.
According to Lamorde, “A lot is going on. We have embarked on investigations, which involves some sitting governors, ex-governors, serving ministers, ex-ministers, some former heads of Service of the Federation and some members of the National Assembly.”
The EFCC boss assured that the Commission would spare no effort towards bringing looters of public treasury to justice. “Any public officer who decides to dip his or her hand in the government coffers to steal, even if such money is taken outside the country, has no hiding place. There are machinery to trace and recover the money and then bring the culprits to justice,” Lamorde stated.
Lamorde, who also used the opportunity of the visit to review the activities of his agency over the years, said the UK Anti-corruption Asset Recovery Task Force Unit had been of tremendous support to EFCC in fighting economic and financial crimes in the country.
The Chairman particularly lauded the Metropolitan Police support over the cases of former governor of Bayelsa Stae, DSP Alamiyeseigha, Joshua Dariye and James Ibori who, according to him, is currently serving a jail term in the United Kingdom.
He disclosed that efforts were ongoing to confiscate the assets of James Ibori in the UK, adding that “In a few months, there is also going to be a confiscation proceeding in respect of the assets of James Ibori in United Kingdom which, of course, we have been working assiduously to make sure that it will be successful when the case comes up.”
Speaking earlier, the leader of the delegation, Jonathan Benton, Head, Proceeds of International Corruption Unit, said they were in the Commission to further discuss ways on how to tackle corruption head-on in Nigeria.
Benton, who said the fight against graft could only be won through collaborative efforts of all stakeholders, promised to further strengthen the existing relationship with EFCC in the area of investigations of cases . “It is important that we play our part in fighting corruption. Therefore , we are very privileged to have this long-standing relationship with EFCC. On our part, we shall continue to partner EFCC with investigation of its cases in Nigeria. So far, we have had success stories”, he stated.
He commended the agency for the feats so far recorded in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, while charging the Commission not to rest on its oars.
Media & Publicity
19th January, 2015