In a move similar to the
revocation of Raymond Dokpesi’s US visa, the United Kingdom may revoke the
visas of Nigerians perceived to have plundered the nation’s treasury.
This hint was contained in a
statement issued by the special presidential investigation panel (SPIP) on
Wednesday.
Laha quoted Okoi Obono-Obla,
chairman of the panel, as saying the SPIP was partnering with the UK’s home
secretary to ensure that some public officers “perceived to have looted public
funds and illegally acquired assets both in Nigeria and the UK’’ were prevented
from entering the country.
“The panel has also compiled a
list of over 200 past and serving public officers perceived to have illegally
enriched themselves at the expense of the nation and the Nigerian people, among
others,” Obono-Obla said.
He also said the panel had
recovered $7 million illegally kept in Heritage Bank, adding that the probe of
former governors and lawmakers was ongoing.
In March, the US revoked the visa
of Dokpesi, founder of DAAR Communications and a senior member of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP).
The media mogul said he was
informed that the action was taken because of the appearance of his name on the
“looters list” released by the federal government.
Lai Mohammed, minister of
information, had released two lists of alleged looters.
The first list contained five
names, while the second had the names of 23 people. Those listed as “looters”
were Uche Secondus, national chairman of the PDP; Sambo Dasuki, former national
security adviser (NSA); and Olisa Metuh, former national publicity secretary of
the PDP.
Also listed were Dudafa
Waripamo-Owei, former senior special assistant
to president Goodluck Jonathan, Dieziani Alison-Madukwe , former
petroleum resources minister; Femi Fani-Kayode, former minister of aviation.
Dokpesi, who is currently
standing trial for allegedly receiving N2.1 billion from the office of the NSA,
had filed a suit against Mohammed, seeking N5 billion damages for “defamation
of character”.
In the suit filed by Mike
Ozekhome, his counsel, the PDP chieftain said the US embassy in Nigeria
notified him of the withdrawal of his visa on March 16.
He said the embassy told him it
was withdrawn because the federal government included his name on a “looters
list” it (the government) purportedly submitted to it.
TheCable could not confirm if the
federal government forwarded the list to the embassy.
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