IG gets Senate’s warrant to arrest Lamorde this week

The Senate may issue a warrant for the arrest of a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, this week barring an unexpected reversal, our correspondent has learnt.

EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde

This means the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, may be ordered to arrest Lamorde, who is currently undergoing a course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos.

The upper chamber had on Thursday last week asked its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to begin the process of issuing a warrant for the police officer’s arrest.

The senate is currently investigating Lamorde following a petition against him by one Dr. George Uboh.

In his petition, Uboh accused the former EFCC boss of diverting over N1tn the anti-graft agency recovered from treasury looters.

Uboh, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Panic Alert Security Systems, had petitioned the Senate through the senator representing Delta North Senatorial District, Peter Nwaoboshi, alleging that Lamorde, in connivance with other EFCC officials, short-changed the Federal Government in the remittance of funds and assets recovered from some corrupt public officers.

The petitioner alleged that under Lamorde, the EFCC opened bank accounts for the funds it recovered from corrupt officials, but the funds did not reflect in the agency’s audited accounts.

The whistle-blower also alleged that the EFCC doctored and manipulated bank accounts to conceal the alleged fraud.

Lamorde was also accused of diverting over 90 per cent of the money the EFCC recovered in foreign currencies, including those from multinational companies.

At the consideration of the report at plenary on Thursday, the ethics panel lamented efforts by the House to get a reaction from Lamorde were not successful.

The Chairman of the committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, who read the report, noted that Lamorde ignored all invitations extended to him and urged the House to issue a warrant for his arrest.

The committee therefore said it had become necessary to force Lamorde to appear if only to “save the National Assembly as the highest law-making body of the nation, from irreparable damage to its reputation and capacity to summon.”

Our correspondent learnt from the Senate President’s office on Sunday that Arase might get   Lamorde’s arrest warrant this week.

The source confirmed that the ethics panel had forwarded its request to the Senate President Bukola Saraki.

The source said, “I am not sure there will be any delay. The arrest warrant will be sent to the appropriate quarters anytime this week.”

IG gets Senate’s warrant to arrest Lamorde this week

Wanted ex-EFCC boss, Lamorde, dares Senate, appears in Jos

Wanted former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, was one of the 68 participants of the Course 38 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, near Jos, who were inaugurated by the institute on Friday.

EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde

The Senate had, on Thursday, given permission to its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, headed by Senator Sam Anyanwu, to issue a warrant of arrest on Lamorde

The committee, which investigated a petition against Lamorde by George Oboh, had asked the Senate for the order to issue the warrant of arrest against Lamorde to enable him to answer for his activities during his tenure.

The petition had accused Lamorde of misappropriating over N1tn funds.

However, while the senators were giving the order, Lamorde was in Jos as a student of NIPSS.

The cat and mouse game between Lamorde and the lawmakers was reminiscent of the ordeal of his former boss, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, who was demoted while he was admitted for the course.

However, a mild drama ensued on Friday, when as Lamorde was leaving the event, a newspaper vendor displayed before the ex-EFCC boss, a newspaper publication ordering his arrest.

Lamorde, who was the focus of attendees at the event, just blushed and disregarded the vendor and the publication.

When one of the reporters approached the vendor and asked if he knew it was Lamorde that he was showing the publication to, the vendor replied, “Na seni ai” (Yes, I know).

Speaking at the event, the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said the cardinal objectives of the present government was to tackle the scourge of unemployment and foster an inclusive development that would take marginalised and vulnerable segments of Nigeria out of poverty in the shortest time possible.

He said President Mohammadu Buhari chose the theme: “Strengthening Institutional Mechanisms for Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Development in Nigeria,” for Course 38, to enable the government to tackle the prevailing poverty rate in the country which has reached 61 per cent.

He said, “Nigeria ranks 152 out of the 183 countries in the Human Development Index assessment for 2014. This is quite worrisome and requires urgent attention and that is why one of the cardinal objectives of the present administration is to tackle the scourge of poverty.”

Osinbajo, who was represented by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, urged the participants to carry out extensive and detailed research on the challenges confronting public institutions saddled with the responsibility of implementing poverty reduction and inclusive development programmes in Nigeria.

He said recommendations of participants at the end of the programme should be geared towards accelerating the quest for sustainable national development and improving the living standard of the people.

In his welcome address, the representative of the Director General, National Institute, Prof. Mohammed Tijjani-Bande, described the theme as not only apt but also directly relevant to attempts at finding solutions to many of the social, political and economic problems affecting the nation.

Wanted ex-EFCC boss, Lamorde, dares Senate, appears in Jos

FG won’t overlook petition against Lamorde –AGF

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), has said the petition, accusing the immediate past Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, of diverting about N1tn seized by the anti-graft agency from corruption convicts, will not be overlooked.

Malami, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, admitted that investigation into the allegation required time.

EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde

The AGF added that any petition, as long as it had to do with corruption, would not be overlooked.

The minister said, “It is just a matter of a little patience over issues. As you know, investigation takes a lot of consideration, a lot of revelations; but whatever it is, as long as the petition relates to corruption, it cannot be overlooked.

“Whatever is presented by a way of a petition will not be overlooked and at the end of the day, appropriate step shall be taken. There is nothing that can be overlooked. Whatever is presented shall be looked into.”

Before Malami was appointed the AGF, the Federal Ministry of Justice had directed the EFCC to investigate the allegation that Lamorde diverted about N1tn proceeds of corruption recovered by the anti-graft agency.

The ministry’s directive followed a September 18, 2015 petition to the then Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr. Abdullahi Yola.

The petitioner, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Panic Alert Security Systems, a security firm, George Uboh, had sent a reminder dated September 28, Yola, threatening to sue the minister if he failed to respond to his petition within seven days.

Uboh had, in his petition, asked the justice ministry “through which the EFCC derives its power to prosecute or immediately rescind the fiat to prosecute criminal suspects from EFCC.”

He also sought an immediate issuance of “fiat for the prosecution of EFCC’s past and present leadership and their known and unknown co-conspirators via the 22-page preliminary criminal charges the undersigned has prepared.”

Uboh, who had earlier petitioned the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, levelling the same set of allegations against Lamorde, received the ministry’s letter, dated October 8, 2015.

The letter was signed by the Director, Public Prosecutions of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr. Muhammad Diri, on behalf of the Permanent Secretary.

Copies of the letter were made available to journalists in Abuja.

It indicated that Yola had directed the EFCC to investigate the allegation against Lamorde and to forward the result of its investigation to him “as soon as it is completed”.

The letter, with reference number DPPA/PET/EFCC/006/2008 reads, “I refer to your letter dated September 28, 2015, in respect of the above mentioned subject matter.

“I am directed to inform you that your petition has been sent to the EFCC for its response to the allegation contained therein. The commission has been directed by the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary to forward the result of its investigation as soon as it is completed.

“Accept please, the assurances of the highest regards of the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary.”

It will be recalled that in the petition to the Senate, Uboh had alleged that Lamorde in March, 2013, diverted N779m out of the total N3bn forfeited by a former Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, to the Federal Government

He also alleged that the EFCC boss conspired with some officials of the anti-graft agency to under-remit the ex-IG’s forfeited funds of about N5.85bn into the Consolidated Revenue Account by holding back about N2.65bn.

But Lamorde had, on November 17, approached a Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking an order restraining security agents from arresting him.

According to court documents made available to journalists by Festus Keyamo, his lawyer, Lamorde also asked the court for an order setting aside all letters of invitation issued against him by the National Assembly to appear before it.

Joined in the suit are the Senate, the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, the Inspector-General of Police, and the Director-General, Department of State Services as first, second, third and fourth defendants respectively.

Lamorde, a police officer, was removed as the EFCC chairman on November 9, four years after he took over as head of the anti-graft agency.

The former EFCC boss had been replaced by Ibrahim Magu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police and a former Head of the Economic Governance Unit of the agency, who was appointed in acting capacity.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, told one of our correspondents on Sunday that his panel had not been served any court process, insisting that proceedings in the case would resume as soon as the Senate resumed in the second week of January.

Anyanwu added, “We are still going ahead with our investigation as soon as we resume because there is no court process, to the best of my knowledge, stalling the investigation.

“We have not been served any court process. Lamorde’s lawyers merely informed us that his client travelled out on medical grounds.”

The EFCC, in a statement in September by its spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said the petition contained a lot of falsehood.

Uwujaren had said, “The Commission maintained a dignified silence over the past couple of weeks, not because it had anything to hide, but preferred to wait for the report of KPMG, the international audit firm, which it commissioned in June, 2014, to undertake a forensic audit of the record of exhibits and assets recovered by the commission since the creation of EFCC in 2003.

“The decision to commission KPMG for the audit was inspired, not by the fact that institutional memory had become an issue with the exit of most seconded staff over the years, but by a burning desire to benchmark its assets record keeping with best international standards.

“In addition, over the years, unfounded allegation of misappropriation of assets against the commission has become an attractive weapon in the hands of blackmailers of the leadership of the commission in particular and the commission in general.”

FG won’t overlook petition against Lamorde –AGF

Alleged N1tr diversion: Lamorde ‘ill, flown abroad’

Immediate past Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, may have been flown abroad for the treatment of undisclosed ailment, The Nation learnt yesterday.

EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde

Lamorde, who was scheduled to appear before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions yesterday, failed to honour the invitation provoking wild insinuation that he had fled the country to evade Senate probe of the alleged diversion of N1 trillion leveled against him.

An activist, Dr. George Ubah, wrote a petition to that Senate claiming the Lamorde in his capacity as the EFCC Chairman diverted over N1 trillion recovered by the commission.

Lagos lawyer Festus Keyamo, who stood in for Lamorde, defended him.

Keyamo said, “He (Lamorde) is still a policeman, he has no reason to go on exile. Lamorde has served this country very well and let me tell you this if you don’t know. The only way to succeed as the chairman of EFCC is for you not to succeed at all.

“Lamorde is not here today, not out of disrespect to the committee. It is a matter of complete misunderstanding of issues at stake. When Lamorde was invited to this committee, he was invited as chairman of EFCC and between then and now circumstances had changed.

“He is no longer the chairman of EFCC. So, because of that, he thought that would be the end of his invitation because he was invited in that capacity.

“He then handed over the case and traveled for medicals. It was in his absence that the second letter came and addressed as the immediate past EFCC chairman. The fact that he is no longer the chairman, he can no longer be invited except as a witness.”

The Chairman of the committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, noted that Senate does not accept representation when it invites anybody to appear before it.

A member of the committee, Senator Obinna Ogba, wondered why Lamorde failed to live by example being a man who was a former boss of the anti-graft agency that usually invited people to appear before it.

He said the non appearance of Lamorde at the probe was an insult, and disrespect to the Senate.

Senator Tayo Alasoadura, who is also a member of the committee, said: “We are in a situation whereby people are showing their shamelessness.”

Alasoadura queried the capacity in which Keyamo was in the Senate being a lawyer to the EFCC “and the man he claimed to represent is no longer in office as chairman.”

The Chairman of the committee stopped Keyamo half way insisting that anybody could be invited by the Senate panel to come and give evidence.

What followed was hot exchange of words between Keyamo and members of the committee.

At end Anyanwu insisted that Lamorde should make himself available on November 24 notwithstanding the plea by Keyamo that his client would not be available until December 15.

Keyamo later told reporters that the committee was wrong to have insisted that Lamorde must appear before it.

He said: “The constitution is very clear as to those who can be subject to investigation by section 88, 89 of the constitution. By section 88, 89 of the constitution the Senate has powers over two categories of persons.

“The first are those who are subject of investigation. They can be summoned before the committee and the second are witnesses to appear in respect of that investigation.”

Alleged N1tr diversion: Lamorde ‘ill, flown abroad’

Buhari orders investigation of EFCC boss

‎Ben Agande, Abuja.

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a discreet investigation of the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over sundry allegations of acts incompatible with leadership of the anti crime agency.

Investigations by Vanguard revealed that the investigations is being coordinated by the office of the National Security Adviser and involves officials from the National Intelligence Agency and the Department of State Services.

A source in the office of the National Security Adviser told Vanguard that the investigation commenced before the widely publicised by Dr. George Uboh, Chief Executive Officer, Panic Alert Security Services alleging that Ibrahim Lamorde, Chairman, EFCC through various fraudulent Acts/Omissions could not account seized monies amounting to over one (1) Trillion Naira” .

More details soon

Buhari orders investigation of EFCC boss

EFCC Boss, Lamorde"s trial begins

The probe of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde, commenced as scheduled on Wednesday with his accuser telling the Senate that the EFCC boss gave out properties recovered from looters to siblings and friends.

EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde

George Uboh, the man who petitioned the Senate against alleged diversion of N1tn recovered funds by the Federal Government, in his oral submission before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, said that his interaction with ex-Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha showed that the amount recovered from the former governor was far more than what the EFCC declared in its reports.

“We have evidence of how Lamorde has been giving out some of the choice seized property and assets to some of his siblings, especially Usman, and we are ready to produce necessary evidence at the appropriate time,” Uboh told the Senate committee.

He also explained to the committee how the incumbent Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, was allegedly intimidated by the EFCC under Lamorde to stop a legal process initiated to recover the shortfall of Alamieyeseigha’s money by the Bayelsa State government.

He urged the committee to compel the EFCC to remit N2.051tn to the Federal Government, while Access Bank Plc should be compelled to produce the commission’s “complete and unadulterated” statements from 2004 till date.

He also asked the Senate to invite Aminu Ibrahim and co, a firm of auditors, to appear before it to shed light on discrepancies.

He said that contrary to the provisions of Section 36 of EFCC (Establishment) Act of 2004, the anti-graft agency failed to remit over N1tn, alleging that the summary of EFCC’s monetary recovery from March 2003 – March 2013 was N497.385bn and that the agency did not mention where the amount was remitted to.

He also said that the letter written by the EFCC to the Chairman, House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, in 2012 stated that the aggregate recovery from 2004 to 2011 was N1.326tn without details of remittances.

He said, “How can recovery for eight financial years be more than recovery for 11 financial years by over N800bn when the eight financial years are subsumed in the 11 financial years? Why do recovery for the same years differ on different reports?

“It should be noted that the two documents submitted were prepared under the chairmanship of Lamorde.

“Compare the first two submissions emanating from EFCC. The 2011 submission is over N800bn higher than the 2013 submission despite two additional years of naira recovery in the 2013 submission.

“Based on the records, because EFCC has not been able to account for over N800bn, EFCC manipulated the above records and grossly understated recovery in order to conceal the fraud.”

The Senate committee refused to hear the legal team sent by Lamorde on the grounds that the EFCC boss had earlier requested and granted more time before appearing before the panel.

The EFCC team was led by the Director of Legal Services of the anti-graft agency, Mr. Chile Okoroma. Okoroma came in company with Lamorde’s personal lawyer, Mr.Osuagwu Ugochukwu.

They walked into the venue of the meeting about one hour into the commencement of sitting.

The EFCC lawyer had asked for permission from the panel to react to Uboh’s submissions even as he expressed reservations over the decision of the committee members to listen to Uboh without the representatives of the anti-graft agency in attendance.

Members of the committee, especially Senators Dino Melaye and Rafiu Ibrahim, objected to Okoroma’s observation and queried his right to dictate to the panel on how to carry out its assignment.

The chairman of the committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, consequently read a letter from the EFCC, seeking the permission of the upper chamber to appear at a later date when its comprehensive annual audit report would have been received from KPMG, an audit firm.

Anyanwu said the committee would not attend to any submission from Okoroma and his team because they were not being expected.

He therefore asked the legal team to excuse the committee to enable it to conclude with the petitioner before determining when Lamorde would be invited to respond to the allegations.

Okoroma and Ugochukwu, however, told our correspondent outside the committee room   that they appeared before the panel because the committee was silent on the EFCC letter requesting an extension of time to appear before it.

Okoroma said, “The procedure adopted by the committee is flawed. They should not have heard the petitioner in our absence and they did not also send the documents attached to the petition to us.

“The committee was aware of our coming because we informed them. The petitioner should have proved his allegation in our presence. All what he was saying are pieces of rubbish and we are highly disappointed in the committee.”

Meanwhile, the anti-Senate President Bukola Saraki senators under the aegis of Senate Unity Forum, on Wednesday, declared the Lamorde’s probe by the committee as illegal because it did not follow the due process and that it breached the Senate Rules.

The group, in a petition by Senators Gorge Akume, Abu Ibrahim, Barnabas Gemade and Ahmad Lawan, faulted the process through which the petition was sent to the committee.

It noted that in a standard parliamentary practice, a petition should be routed through either a senator or a member of the House of Representatives and that upon receipt of such a petition the representative would inform the presiding officer of the chamber and, thereafter, present the petition in the plenary.

“Upon presentation in plenary, the presiding officer will invite the senator/member, House of Representatives. To lay the same petition on the table in the chamber, this automatically becomes a public document.

“In this regard, nothing of the sort happened. Senate proceeded on recess on August 13 and it is not on record that the petition of Mr. George Uboh, accusing Lamorde of diverting over N1tn recovered from some corrupt Nigerians, including former Governor of Bayelsa State, DSP Alamieyesigha, and the former Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun, was presented to Senate in Plenary,” the group’s statement read in part.

EFCC Boss, Lamorde"s trial begins

PDP kicks as senate move to probe Lamorde over diversion of N1tn

A fresh crisis looms in the Senate as members on Monday appeared divided over the planned probe of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde, over alleged diversion of stolen funds recovered from looters.

EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde

While the Senate leadership said the probe would proceed as scheduled on Wednesday (tomorrow), members of the Peoples Democratic Party in the upper federal legislative chamber kicked against the probe.

The EFCC boss, according to a petition before the Senate, has been accused of diverting N1tn said to have been recovered from a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; and a former Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun.

The petitioner, Dr. George Uboh, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Panic Alert Security Systems, had petitioned the Senate through the senator representing his Delta North constituency, Peter Nwaoboshi, alleging that Lamorde, in connivance with other EFCC officials, short-changed the Federal Government in the remittance of funds and properties recovered from Alamieyeseigha and Balogun.

The probe of the EFCC boss by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions has been scheduled to begin on Wednesday (tomorrow).

After an earlier arguments over the propriety of the investigation by the Senate, the PDP senators later in a statement signed by the Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio; his deputy, Emmanuel Bwacha; Minority Whip, Philip Aduda; and his deputy, Biodun Olujimi, rejected the planned probe.

The PDP senators’ statement, issued late on Monday, partly read, “It has come to the notice of the PDP leadership in the Senate that the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions would begin a public hearing on Wednesday, August 26, 2015 and the committee has invited the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to appear before it.

“The PDP leadership in the Senate is not against any committee of the Senate performing its oversight duties and or functions but we feel that this is not the appropriate time to embark on the most important assignment, particularly since the same action was mooted and had failed at previous plenary session.

“We therefore urge the committee to suspend its public hearing on this particular matter until further notice.

“The PDP senate leadership reassures the Nigerian public of its support for the war against corruption by the Federal Government of Nigeria but hastens to add that such fight against corruption should be total and not selective.

“Nigerians need peace at this period of economic challenges precipitated by the falling of oil prices and actions that will overheat the polity and generate unnecessary friction between the executive and the legislature should be avoided.”

Our correspondent learnt that there had been a heated argument among senators earlier on Monday with the senior lawmakers divided on the scheduled investigation of Uboh’s petition against Lamorde.

Some members of the committee to probe the EFCC boss were said to have disagreed sharply over the investigation, though the anti-graft commission released a statement to say that the commission under Lamorde feared no probe.

The commission, in a statement by its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, described Uboh’s petition as mischievous and intended to smear Lamorde.

The statement read in part, “The EFCC as an agency that is founded on transparency is not afraid of any ‘probe’ or request for information regarding its activities by individuals, groups or organs of government; so far as such requests followed due process of law.

“Even if the EFCC had not returned a kobo of recovered assets in its 12 years existence in addition to the yearly appropriated funds from the Federation Account, it will be nowhere near a trillion naira.

“It (the petition) was sent, not to the Senate but to a member, Senate Peter Nwaoboshi, a first-term senator from Delta North.

“Under the Senate rules, petitions meant for consideration by the red chamber are sent to the Senate, not to a member of the Senate.

“Also, petitions meant for the Senate are tabled at the plenary, before they are referred to the relevant committees for further consideration. In this instance, the Senate has been on recess and there is no evidence that the so-called petition was considered at plenary and referred to any committee.”

According to the commission, the   EFCC under Lamorde did not need the prompting of anyone when it commissioned KPMG, an audit firm, to carry out comprehensive audit of exhibits and forfeited assets of the Commission from 2003 to date.

It said that the report of the audit would be made public once it is ready.

The statement added, “Were the Commission to be jittery about its records, it would not have embarked on such audit.

“The EFCC however warns that those who peddle false information with the intent to mislead should be reminded that there is a subsisting law on false information and the consequence for violation is grave.”

Attempts to speak with Akpabio, as of the time of filing this report, were futile as calls made to his mobile phones did not connect while the text message sent to him was also not acknowledged.

A member of the committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, explained to one of our correspondents that a motion was sponsored on financial crimes earlier in the month, seeking, among others, the invitation of Lamorde to appear before the Senate.

The senator said that one of the prayers in the motion as it specifically affected Lamorde’s invitation was rejected by the majority of the senators during plenary and that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had no option but to rule it out.

He said, “We were however surprised that the probe was channelled through the back door in form of a petition. We had discussed it in our meeting and some of us believe that we should allow the petitioner to seek redress in a court of law.

“If the chairman (of the ethics committee) still decides to go ahead with the invitation of the EFCC chairman, we will have no choice but to write our own minority report at the end of the exercise because we believe it is an issue that could be settled in court.”

But the Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, told one of our correspondents on the telephone on Monday that there was no disagreement among the committee members and that the probe would go on as scheduled.

He said, “There is no confusion anywhere, we are inviting the EFCC chairman and the man that wrote a petition against him. This is different from the decision taken on the floor of the Senate over a motion.

“Our committee is intact and there is no dissenting voice, we will go ahead with the probe on Wednesday by the grace of God. We have the mandate of Nigerians to discharge our lawful functions as lawmakers; hence we will treat the petition on its merit.”

Also, when contacted, the Senate spokesperson, Dino Melaye, said he was not aware of the disagreement among members of the committee over Lamorde and that the probe had nothing to do with the rejection of an earlier prayer in a motion seeking his invitation by the Senate.

Melaye said, “The rule of the Senate permits its Committee on Ethics and Public Petitions to invite anybody indicted in a petition. It has nothing to do with any resolution of the entire house.

“I am aware that the committee will proceed with the invitation of the EFCC boss as scheduled on Wednesday. A formal letter had been sent to him in that regard.”

The offences alleged against Larmode were said to have been committed when he was the Director of Operations of the EFCC between 2003 and 2007, as well as an acting Chairman of the commission between June 2007 and May 2008.

PDP kicks as senate move to probe Lamorde over diversion of N1tn

Senate to probe Lamorde’s alleged diversion of N1tn

The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions will on Wednesday begin a probe of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde, over an allegation that he fraudulently diverted over N1tn proceeds of corruption recovered by the anti-graft agency.

EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde

Part of the money alleged by a petitioner to have been diverted by the EFCC boss included the loot recovered from a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; and ex-Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun.

The petitioner, Mr. George Uboh, whose complaint to the Senate prompted the probe, has been invited to appear before the Senate committee at Meeting Room 120 of the New Senate Building, National Assembly Complex, Abuja, by 10am on Wednesday.

Similar invitation, it was learnt, had been extended to Lamorde to appear before the Senate committee the same time on Wednesday.

The fraud allegedly perpetrated by Larmode was said to have dated back to his days as the Director of Operations of the EFCC between 2003 and 2007, as well as an acting Chairman of the commission between June 2007 and May 2008, when the then chairman of the anti-graft agency, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, was away for a course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos.

Uboh, Chief Executive Officer of Panic Alert Security Systems, a security firm, in his petition dated July 31, 2015, accused Lamorde of some specific instances of under-remittance and non-disclosure of proceeds of corruption recovered from criminal suspects, including   Balogun and Alamieyeseigha.

He assured the Senate that he would produce “overwhelming evidence” to back his claims against Lamorde.

Uboh also alleged that the EFCC had not accounted for “offshore recoveries” and that “over half of the assets seized from suspects are not reflected in EFCC exhibit records”.

The petitioner equally accused Lamorde of conspiring with some EFCC officers and external auditors “to operate and conceal a recovery account in the Central Bank of Nigeria and excluded the balances from your audited financial statements between 2005 and 2011”.

“Lamorde continues to conceal the details of the unsold properties forfeited by both Tafa Balogun and DSP Alamieyeseigha despite receiving rent revenues from some estate agents on the said properties,” he further alleged.

Alamieyeseigha, the man who former President Goodluck Jonathan succeeded as Bayelsa State governor in 2005, had forfeited property and funds in various bank accounts as part of terms of plea bargain in his trial by the EFCC.

He had pleaded guilty to six counts of corruption charges before a Federal High Court in Lagos on July 26, 2007 and served concurrent two years imprisonment on each count, though he was later pardoned by Jonathan in 2013.

Balogun had also forfeited landed assets and funds and was sentenced to six months imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Abuja after he pleaded guilty to various counts of corruption charges.

Uboh, asked that Lamorde be prosecuted and proposed 10 counts of fraud in his petition, which was addressed to the Senate President Bukola Saraki, through the Delta State Senator in the National Assembly, Peter Nwaoboshi.

In the petition bearing Nwaobohi’s acknowledgment, Uboh alleged that Lamorde in March 2013 diverted the sum of N779m out of the total N3bn forfeited by Balogun to the Federal Government and that the EFCC boss conspired with some officials of the anti-graft agency to under-remit the ex-IG’s forfeited funds of about N5.85bn into the Consolidated Revenue Account by holding back about N2.65bn.

Uboh also alleged that Lamorde conspired with some EFCC officials to remit to Bayelsa State the sum of N3.1bn instead of the total sum of N4.3bn proceeds of corruption recovered from Alamieyeseigha.

The petitioner said that Lamorde, as Director of Operations of the EFCC, conspired with some officers of the commission to manipulate records of assets recovered from Alamieyeseigha, an act which allegedly paved the way for him to trade with about N3.7bn of the recovered funds for almost two years.

“Sir, the aggregate funds diverted by Lamorde/EFCC stated below in the attached criminal charges is over N1tn. However, because over 95 per cent of overseas seizures are diverted, there is an urgent need to investigate and recover those funds as well,” Uboh’s petition read in part.

Our correspondent, on Sunday, obtained a copy of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions’ letter, which was signed by the committee’s clerk, Freedom Osolo, inviting Uboh to the Wednesday’s meeting.

The letter of invitation entitled, ‘Invitation to a meeting of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions’, partly read, “I am directed to invite you to a meeting of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions of the National Assembly in respect of your petition (copy attached) against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde.”

“You are by this invitation, required to appear before the committee with all necessary evidence to support your allegation,” the invitation letter also noted.

Part of the proposed charges prepared by Uboh read, “That you Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, as the executive chairman of EFCC in March 2013, in the bid to conceal a fraud of N779,155,004:62, being the diverted amount from the forfeited funds by Tafa Balogun, falsified documents in response to the request made on you by duly constituted authorities, wherein you fraudulently stated the total of 13 bank balances as N2,258,100,576:98 instead of N3,037,255,521:60

“That you Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, as the Director of operations, conspired with some officers in the EFCC to manipulate the forfeitures and recoveries from DSP Alamieyesiegha, which events took place between 2006 and 2007, as if it took place in July 2008, with a view to shifting responsibilities to the regime or tenure of Mrs. Farida Waziri. By this act, you traded with recoveries amounting to over N3.7 bn for almost two years before formerly documenting the transaction.”

When contacted, the spokesperson for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said, “I am not aware of it (the petition).”

Senate to probe Lamorde’s alleged diversion of N1tn

Don"t Drag EFCC into Politics, Lamorde Warns APC, Others

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday in Abuja warned the main opposition party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), over recent allegations that the anti-graft agency had commenced moves to arrest some of its key leaders.

Chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Lamorde gave the warning during the launch of a new handbook, Red Alert on Scam.

The warning came on the heels of claims made by the APC Spokesperson,  Lai Mohammed, that an order had been given by the Presidency to the EFCC to effect the arrest of key leaders of the party over ‘cooked up’ corruption cases.

The chairman who debunked the allegations, informed journalists that the commission has been neutral since the campaigns began, stating that the EFCC will not be dragged into politics barely few days to the polls.

“They said there is an order to arrest the leadership of the party. We do not want to get involved in any political discussion. We have tried to remain neutral since the campaigns started. Let us do the last lap peacefully,” Lamorde explained.

Speaking further, EFCC boss said: “Corruption has become an issue in this political campaigns. We cannot stop people from talking. The irony of it is that, some of them talking about corruption are standing trial. They are busy playing to the gallery. It is unfortunate. They do not see themselves first.

“Some of them have no business taking about corruption. They are corruption personified. We want to remind them that they still have their day in court. If the media had been covering these cases in court, these politicians would not have been talking? The criminal justice administration of the country has to be looked at. You cannot fast track criminal cases in court,” he stressed.

Lamorde also clarified issues surrounding  the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Charles Soludo,  over his earlier alleged involvement in currency notes printing fraud, Lamorde said investigation revealed that he was not involved in the shady deal.

“We invited Charles Soludo in respect of the printing of currency notes. From the investigation conducted, we did not find anything Soludo was involved in. Our partners from UK wanted certain information. So, Soludo has been exonerated.”

Don"t Drag EFCC into Politics, Lamorde Warns APC, Others

UK, EFCC probing govs, ministers for fraud – Lamorde

The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Larmorde, has said that the commission and the United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police are investigating some serving and former governors, ministers, heads of service of the federation, and federal lawmakers.

EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde

Lamorde said that the operatives of the EFCC and the Met Police were investigating the serving and former public office holders for money laundering and looting of public treasury.

The EFCC Chairman made the comment while playing host to the Metropolitan Police Special Crime and Operations Unit led by Detective Chief Inspector Jonathan Benton in Abuja, on Monday.

Lamorde refused to disclose the identities and the total number of the public office holders on the watch list of the commission and the Met Police on the premise that the investigation was jointly carried out by the EFCC and the UK Police.

He said the affected current and former public office holders would be arrested and their identities revealed after the commission must have concluded investigation into their cases.

He said, “You are also very much aware that the Metropolitan Police Proceeds of Corruption Unit is the unit that assisted us in the case of DSP Alamieyeseigha in the past, Joshua Dariye, and of course the big one that everybody is aware of, James Ibori, who is currently serving a jail term in the United Kingdom.

“In a few months’ time, there is also going to be a confiscation proceedings in respect of the assets of James Ibori in the United Kingdom which of course we have been working assiduously to make sure it will be successful.

“In respect of some of the new cases we have embarked upon, we are investigating some sitting state governors, some ministers that are serving, also ministers that have left office, some former heads of service of the federation and members of the National Assembly.

“We will never mention names, since it’s a joint investigation that we are doing, and you know unlike what we do here where some of our people here wants sensationalism, that’s not the way it works with them.

“The investigation has to be conducted properly first, it is when the matter is ready to go to court that publicities are given to individual cases; for the time being they are here, we are reviewing those investigations and when we are ready to go to court then names and these cases will be properly mentioned.”

Lamorde said that investigations into the cases against the public office holders would take some time to conclude just like the Ibori case which took up to six to seven years of investigation before he was arraigned in court.

Larmorde warned that any public office holder who got involved in the theft of public funds would not go free.

He said that the commission had put in place the machinery to track those stealing and taking such loot outside the country.

“…We cannot be in a hurry, the most important thing is that people should know that a lot is going on, and any person, either a man or woman, occupying public office, who decides to put her hand or his hand in government coffers to steal, would not have any hiding place.

“Whether you take the money outside this country or not, there is machinery in place to trace this money and also bring such individuals to justice,” Lamorde added

He commended the Met Police for complementing the efforts of the commission to discourage people from stealing public funds in the country.

Larmorde added that the UK had also ensured that assets bought with stolen money were returned to the Nigerian government.

He said some assets that had been confiscated by the UK would soon be returned to the country.

The leader of the Met Police Delegation, Benton, assured Nigerians of the readiness of the UK Police to support the EFCC as London remained one of the major destinations of people embarking on holidays and those who wanted to buy houses.

He said, “The International Financial Centre in London do play a part in the way money worked, the way money is flown and the way money is moved and where people like to buy houses and where they spent their holidays and some chose school.”

Lamorde also spoke on the state of the ongoing cases against some former governors in the country.

He complained about the criminal justice system that created room for lawyers to embark on deliberate measures to delay cases involving influential politicians.

The EFCC boss stated, “Abubakar Audu was charged to court in 2006; we started in Lokoja, we went to Supreme Court three times with him, for everything they will put an application that they don’t like the judge,. the judge is biased, but if you say no, then go to the Court of Appeal, then Supreme Court, we are now at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

“In the case of Saminu Turaki, we had to obtain a bench warrant. Currently he is a wanted person because he has refused to show up for trial. We started here in Abuja, they contested jurisdiction; the trial was taken to Dutse. In the case of Jolly Nyame, we are still at the High Court in Abuja with him, and he is still contesting.

“In the case of Joshua Dariye, we have been in court and he has been a senator. The man in Ekiti, we were in court with him and he is now elected governor of Ekiti State again.

“I think we have to look at the criminal justice system in this country, it is not a question of arrest of the individuals; we have arrested people, we have charged them to court, 2006 to date is how many years? And yet we are still at the preliminary level because these people can afford good lawyers that will continue to prolong the trial.

“Please, continue to monitor the trial in court, because if journalists are there, a judge will think twice before granting some applications, he will think that people are watching me, and my decisions will be reported.

“It is time for all of us as a country to look at the criminal justice system so we can address some of these shortcomings and deal with them.”

UK, EFCC probing govs, ministers for fraud – Lamorde

Lamorde: Oil Price Crash Will Discipline Nigeria

• UNODC expresses fear on terrorism funding, money laundering

By Paul Obi in Abuja

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said the current crash of global oil prices will discipline Nigeria in the area of naked display of corruption through tax evasion.

EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde

The Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, stated this at the ongoing seminar on Tax Crime Investigation and Prosecution Course organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in conjunction with the European Union (EU).

Lamorde explained that going by a recent investigation conducted by the EFCC, “only few individuals and institutions pay tax; most businesses don’t pay their tax, people drive N50 million car and you ask them for taxes, they don’t pay. It is good that oil price is going down so that we look elsewhere.”

He said the commission’s effort in confronting tax evasion “led to an immediate recovery of over N3 billion. Our experience was very revealing, as only a very few individuals and institutions pay tax.

He observed that only “employees in structured salaried employment, whose taxes are deducted from source, pay. Most businesses do not pay tax and where they are recipients of value added tax (VAT), same is not remitted and is laundered back through the business as legitimate earnings. We have also realised from the position of the NFIU that there is a linkage between tax evasion and AML/CFT. Consequently, billions of Naira are lost to the Government of Nigeria and it is possible that these lost revenues could be laundered and used for criminal purposes.

“The power to tax is what defines the sovereignty of a country. It is the key attribute of sovereignty and statehood. Conversely, it is the payment of tax that empowers and legitimises the right of a citizen to ask for accountability of Government. I suspect that if the citizenry were paying taxes, the level of impunity in the political arena would be significantly minimised as the citizen would feel embezzlement personally and demand for accountability,” Lamorde said.

Speaking also, UNODC Project Coordinator on Anti-Corruption, Bala Sanga, said the growing cases of terrorism funding and money laundering have become alarming, stressing the need to train experts on tax evasion and fraud.

Sanga told journalists that “chances are that anywhere you see tax evasion, you are going to see money laundering and cases of underlying corruption.”

He said though the UNODC do not meddle in the internal affairs of countries, but it is concerned with the rise in crimes such as tax evasion, terrorism funding and money laundering.

Sanga stated that the training would afford the UNODC an opportunity “to tutor law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies on intelligence led procedures for investigating corruption.”

President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Chief Mark Anthony Dike said non-tax compliance is capable of derailing Nigeria’s developmental agenda.

“It is quite glaring that the level of tax compliance in Nigeria is abysmally low. This has greatly impeded development as government at all levels in Nigeria have had to contend with paucity of the execution of the plethora of projects begging for attention.

Our reliance on revenue from oil and other hydro carbon sources has been our bane. Taking a look at the revised Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria recently, the percentage of taxes to GDP is a far cry from what it should be. Therefore, every effort to rein in more taxes and increase compliance is a welcome development,” Dike said.

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Lamorde: Oil Price Crash Will Discipline Nigeria