EFCC compiles cases against governors

 Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has started compiling cases against some serving governors who would be interrogated at the end of their tenures when they lose constitutional immunity, Daily Trust learnt.
Indications that some governors have allegations of financial misappropriation to answer before the anti-graft body emerged yesterday when the spokesman of the EFCC Femi Babafemi told Daily Trust the reinvigorated investigation of local government chairmen in states showed complicity on the part of state executives.               
The president, vice-president, governors and their deputies enjoy immunity according to Section 308 of the 1999 constitution which says that they can only be investigated but not prosecuted till their tenure in office expires. Already, EFCC operatives have been detailed to Ogun, Kano, Benue, Enugu, Oyo, Kogi, Edo, Imo, Osun, Sokoto, Yobe, Adamawa among others collating evidence against local government chairmen who allegedly pilfered the Excess Crude Fund and Federation Account allocations meant to execute projects in their councils.

In 2008, EFCC Chairman Mrs. Farida Waziri launched an investigation of all 774 local governments in Nigeria supported by findings that dividends of democracy was not been enjoyed by those at the grassroots.

Babafemi said, “Based on recent intelligence reports we have found that some state officials are conniving with council chairmen to divert funds. This has made us realise that the third tier of government is not actually performing in terms of infrastructural development. For example In Oyo, all 33 local government chairmen have been interrogated along with state government officials, In Kano we are investigating all 44 local council bosses with state executives. There is hardly any part of the country we have not been to.”

He said, “This is a signal that governors in those states would have cases to answer at the end of their tenures.”

In Benue, 10 LG chairmen were quizzed for allegedly misappropriating over N900 million excess crude fund. EFCC is investigating a corruption case of N44 billion by all the local governments and the Permanent Secretary Ministry of local government affairs Alhaji Abdulmalik Yakubu alongside five others grilled last Thursday.

The commission is also probing alleged diversion and mismanagement of N30 billion out of the Excess Crude Funds allocated to 28 local government areas in Ogun state. The case against 23 local government chairmen in Oyo involves an alleged N8.3 billion fraud and Secretary to the state government has been quizzed.