– The NIA and the EFCC are presently at loggerheads over the N13bn seized from an apartment in Osbourne Towers in Lagos
– The EFCC is said to have stumbled on the funds while monitoring 5 VIP tenants of the building who were under probe
– The anti-corruption agency was said not to have known about the safe apartment that the NIA kept at the Towers
The Nation is reporting that no fewer than five tenants of the Osbourne Towers building in Ikoyi, Lagos state are presently under probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to the report, it was while on the trail of these high-profile tenants that the ant-corruption agency found the $43.4 million, £27,000 and N23 million at House 6, Apartment 7B, it was learnt.
Four of the tenants had been questioned by the EFCC while a petition was pending against a fifth person of interest.
EFCC acting chairman Magu is presently in a precarious position over the seized cash
Sources said because of these, the building had been under surveillance when a whistle-blower alerted the agency about the apartment where the huge cash was recovered.
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The Nation quotes a source as saying that when the EFCC moved in, it was unaware that the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) had a Safe Apartment there.
It reports further that the whistle-blower may have had knowledge of the EFCC’s discreet investigation tried helping out but the apartment does not belong to any of the tenants.
A source said: “As at the time of the EFCC’s operation on Wednesday, about five high-profile tenants, who are either being investigated or on the radar of the commission, were suspected to be living or having apartments there.
“Some of the tenants have been quizzed and others are undergoing investigation. Only one of them has an outstanding petition still being probed by EFCC detectives.”
“Among them are two former governors, a director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and two prominent lawyers.
“So, when the whistle-blower raised the red flag, the EFCC was quick to move in without knowing that the 7B apartment is a safe house of the NIA.
“There was excitement in the Lagos Zonal office of the EFCC about a breakthrough. This was why the operation started between 10am and 11am,” the source said.
The report quotes a government official, who pleaded anonymity explained further what transpired between EFCC and NIA on the issue of the seized funds.
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He said: “It is unfortunate that this is the second time this type of incident is happening between the two
“There was a case of some cash released for contingency assignment by presidential fiat through the NIA account. The release was based on the directive of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.
“When the EFCC began the investigation of some Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), it traced the movement of the cash to NIA account. Instead of seeking explanation from the Director-General of NIA, Ambassador Ayo Oke, the EFCC wrote directly to the Central Bank of Nigeria( CBN) to demand the details of the transactions on the said account.
Tower of corruption? Five VIP tenants of Osbourne Towers (pictured) are said to be under EFCC probe
“In fact, the documents obtained from CBN included other sensitive operations and overhead. The NIA took exception to it. When President Muhammadu Buhari intervened, he saw all the records that neither NIA DG nor any staff benefited from the said funds.
“NIA actually transferred the whole money as directed by the ex-President to another dedicated account. Subsequent EFCC investigation did not indict NIA. As for Wednesday’s operation, it was true that DG of NIA rushed to the Acting chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, who promised to intervene. The NIA boss only asked EFCC to retrieve the cash without making a public show of it in the media.
“At the time the NIA got in touch with EFCC, the operation was already midway and strategy wise, the EFCC chairman felt it would convey a different impression because a crowd had already gathered in and around the towers.”
The source added: “The operation was based on the clues from the whistle-blower. The commission acted on intelligence. No one gave EFCC a list of safe houses of NIA. And the cash was also considered huge for NIA’s covert operations.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) has asked Rivers state governor Nyesom Wike to provide proof that the $43.4m, £27,000 and N23m (about N13bn) discovered by EFCC in a house in Ikoyi, Lagos state belongs to his state.
The Punch reports that Sagay said to be taken seriously, Wike has to present evidence the money in question actually belonged to the people of the oil-rich south-south state.
Watch EFCC recently arraign a former GMD of NNPC in court for corruption after seizing millions of dollars from him
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