Barring last
minute alteration in its decisions, the Presidential Investigative Panel
probing suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir David
Lawal and the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA,
Ayodele Oke, may have set free the security chief while recommending Lawal for
criminal investigation and likely prosecution.
The
three-man panel set up by President Muhammadu Buhari, under the chairmanship of
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, was constituted two weeks ago and given 14 days
to conclude the assignment. Though it has concluded the probe since Wednesday,
May 3 the panel will submit its report to President Buhari on Monday.
According to the sun news, the panel,
which also had the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami,
and National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Munguno (Retd), as
members, sat in camera throughout its work.
Lawal was
accused of legal and due process violations in the award of contracts to
companies handling the resettlement of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)
camps under the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE).
Oke got into
trouble following the discovery of large amounts of foreign and local
currencies totaling over N13 billion by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), in an apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos. The NIA
subsequently claimed ownership of the fund, adding that the money was
warehoused in the private apartment for covert operations across Nigeria and
some neighbouring countries.
The Senate,
which had been probing Lawal on alleged contract fraud, on Wednesday,
recommended his prosecution after indicting him for allegedly taking bribes to
the tune of N500 million from contractors his office awarded contracts to. The
Osinbajo panel’s findings, it was gathered, agreed with the upper chamber of
the National Assembly on virtually all the issues raised for consideration.
According to
presidential sources , the Osinbajo panel was however convinced that the seized
N13 billion was no proceed of crime and that it truly belongs to the NIA for
its operations following “overwhelming evidence of documents tendered and
witnesses called to testify, all of who exonerated Oke of any wrongdoing.”
The panel
was also said to have established that soon after Gen. Monguno was appointed
the NSA, Oke briefed him “on all on-going operations and projects along with
available funds, both in cash and in the banks.” It also agreed with Oke’s
submission that the NSA in February 2016 directed a team to verify the NIA’s
submissions, as a result of which Gen. Monguno did a memo to Oke on May 17,
2016, informing him of his decision to inform President Buhari on intelligence
operations and projects embarked upon by the Agency.
The panel
came to that conclusion following oral testimonies and submission of copies of
the correspondence involving Buhari, Monguno and Oke. Though the panel in its
report had issues with Oke’s explanations on why he used his wife’s company
name to procure the Osborne apartment, it could not however indict Oke for
money laundering as a result of provisions of paragraph 12(1) & (2) of the
National Intelligence Agency Instrument No.1, a subsidiary legislation to
National
Security Agencies Act, 1986, which states that the NIA reports directly to the
president and its accounts are prohibited from external auditing.
A source
close to the panel said Oke was able to itemise the $289 million intervention
fund approved and released to the agency by the Goodluck Jonathan
administration in November, 2014, just as he had stated in his memo to the NSA
in 2016.
Though the
panel failed to indict the acting EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu for not handling
the investigation in a tidy and professional manner, it however acknowledged
the fact that Oke did the right thing by visiting Magu in his office to brief
him about the true ownership of the money while the operation was still going
on at the Ikoyi apartment.
As at the
time of filing this report, it could not be established whether President
Buhari will indeed handover Babachir Lawal to the EFCC for further
investigation and prosecution, or whether Ayo Oke would be allowed to complete
his tenure which ends in November or be asked to proceed on terminal leave as
soft landing since no case of criminal breach could be established against him.
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