EFCC: How an incumbent governor withdrew N60bn cash

Abdulrasheed Bawa, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has disclosed how a serving governor withdrew N60 billion cash within six years.

 Bawa made disclosed this in the latest edition of agency’s in-house magazine “EFCC Alert.”

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The EFCC chairman did not reveal the identity of the governor, but said the governor is from the North-Central.

Of the six states in the North Central, Governors Simon Lalong (Plateau), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger) and Yahaya Bello (Kogi) have spent six years.

Bawa said, “A governor in a North-Central state within the last six years (one individual) has withdrawn over N60 billion in cash,” the EFCC chairman stated in the anti-graft agency’s in-house monthly publication, EFCCALERT.

“We are not setting out to be engaging with people on the pages of newspapers or press conferences. We are working hard trying to see what we can do behind the scenes [to eradicate corruption]. And very soon, Nigerians are going to see some of the things that we are doing.

“I can tell you for free that the new Department of Intelligence that we have created is working wonders. They have come up with a lot of intelligence. In one of them, a governor in a North-Central state within the last six years (one individual) has withdrawn over N60 billion in cash.

“We are looking at all of that, and I assure you that at the end of all of our investigations, Nigerians are going to be briefed of what we are doing behind the scene on cybercrime, politically exposed persons as well as engaging government agencies to ensure that we have better processes and procedures on how to do government business.”

However, Bawa dismissed as untrue the claim that corruption cases against former governors had been swept under the carpet, saying the commission was steadily on the cases.

He added, “I can assure you that we are working (on them). We don’t want to talk about matters that are under investigation. Yes, we invited a former governor (Lucky Igbinedion) for interrogation.

“He was with us for two days and he has been released; investigation is ongoing, but we are being careful and cautious, so we won’t be accused of engaging in a media trial.”