Anti-Magu
senators may send 15-man team to Buhari
A curious
payment of N2, 922, 236.310 to 54 Senators during the tenure of Chief David
Mark as Senate President is now engaging the attention of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Each of the
Senators is believed to have received N45, 509, 090.
It is one of
the issues Senator Mark is expected to throw light on during his ongoing
interactive session with the agency, The Nation learned authoritatively
yesterday.
Five of the
54 Senators that benefitted from the N2.9billion largesse are still members of
the Green chambers of the National Assembly.
Among them
is a principal officer of the Senate.
While
investigators suspect that the money may have been sourced from the accounts of
the National Assembly, citizen Ifeanyichukwu Obazi-Nweze, in a petition,
claimed that it was trapped cash of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The
discovery of the cash disbursement by EFCC is believed to have sparked the
latest move by some Senators to block the re-nomination of Mr. Ibrahim Magu for
confirmation as substantive Chairman of EFCC.
The
lawmakers are said to have drawn the battle line with him.
Sources said
yesterday that they planned to send a 15-man secret delegation to Buhari to
protest against Magu and demand his removal.
Investigation
by The Nation showed that the ex-Senate President and some of the beneficiaries
of the largesse will have to explain who authorized UBA to raise five manager
cheques in favour of the defunct Bank PHB and GTB.
The manager
cheques were listed as MC No. 03816905 (N2,275,454,500)- Bank PHB; MC 03816915
(N133,400,000)-Bank PHB; MC No. 03816909(N103, 800,000)-Bank PHB; and MC No.
03816918(N364,072.720)-GTB.
Investigation
showed that each of the 50 beneficiary Senators collected N45, 509, 090
amounting to N2,275,454,500.
A document,
obtained by our correspondent, reads in part: “The above manager cheque number
03816905 with a value of N2,275,454,500 was deposited into the accounts of 50
Senators as beneficiaries.
“Manager
Cheque No. 0386915 of the sum of N133, 400,000 and MC No. 03816909 of the sum
of N103, 800,000 have four beneficiaries as follows: N133, 400,000;
N51,900,000; N86, 250,000 and N51,900,000.
“However, it
is important to note that the beneficiaries of Manager Cheque(MC) No. 03816918
of N364, 072,720 to GTB and MC No. 3816912 of N45, 509, 090 to WEMA Bank are
yet to be ascertained. All efforts are being made to uncover the
beneficiaries.”
A highly
placed source said: “From what detectives have done, we are investigating
alleged conspiracy, abuse of office and misappropriation of public funds of N2,
922, 236, 310 when Sen. David Mark was the President of the Senate.”
The source
said EFCC commenced its investigation into the matter in 2015 following
petitions by National Assembly workers and one Ifeanyichukwu Obazi-Nweze of
Abogu Financial Company Limited who claimed that the money was trapped cash of
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“The probe
is not targeted at David Mark or the Senate or the nation’s 109 Senators,” the
source said.
“Yet, no
anti-graft agency will gloss over N2.9billion shared by 54 Senators in one day.
“It is a
case which preceded the eighth Senate but as we probe on a daily basis, we dig
up more facts on how funds were siphoned from the coffers of the National
Assembly into private accounts.
“Contrary to
the claim that the cash amounted to trapped funds of PDP, our team succeeded in
tracing the source of the money to the account of the Senate and how it was
deposited or transferred to the accounts of the affected Senators.
“We are
looking at the motives behind the illegal withdrawal of the money and
depositing of same to the accounts of the 54 Senators. We are also interested
in the recovery of the public funds.”
Detectives
are expected to recover and analyze all vouchers and other relevant documents
from the National Assembly with a view to ascertaining the purpose of raising
the five manager cheques and uncover any likely conspiracy and diversion of the
funds.
“The
investigating team has also been directed to invite the officials of the
Finance Department of the National Assembly and signatories to the accounts to
shed light on the purpose for which the Manager Cheques were raised to
determine their roles in the transactions.”
Responding
to a question, the source added: “The EFCC has not received the required
cooperation from the staff of the National Assembly, especially members of the
management.
“But we will
explore ways of collaborating with these management staff to get to the roots
of this fraud.”
On the link
between the N2.9billion and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the source
said: “We have not established that it was a trapped cash of the opposition
party. Rather, the cash in question came from one of the accounts of the
National Assembly.
It was
gathered that some of the affected Senators had launched desperate moves to
halt the investigation.
A reliable
source said: “Some of the 54 Senators have drawn the battle line with the
acting Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu and have vowed to unseat him. They
know they collected illegal money and may have to refund same.
“Already,
they have raised a 15-man team to have audience with President Muhammadu Buhari
on why Magu must be removed for looking into N2.9billion fraud. They are afraid
of their shadows because the ongoing investigation is leading to more stunning
discoveries.
“They
believe they can only have their way if Magu is eased out of EFCC.”
0 Comments