The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) on Thursday declined comments about whether it had launched
an investigation to find out how former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu, came about
the bullion vans that drove into his home in February.
Nigerians have mounted pressure
on the anti-graft office to open money laundering probe against Mr Tinubu,
after the ruling party chieftain was seen on February 22 receiving at least two
armoured vehicles believed to be bearing cash.
The development raised
controversies because it came a day to the presidential election on February
23.
Mr Tinubu is a senior leader of
the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and a strong ally of President
Muhammadu Buhari, who was seeking reelection at the time.
Critics said there was no doubt
the vehicles were conveying cash to bribe voters with, especially since such
trucks are used in Nigeria almost exclusively to convey cash by banks,
government institutions and cash-in-transit firms.
Mr Tinubu’s action was widely
deemed contrary to Nigerian anti-money laundering laws, which places a cap of
N5 million ( about $14,000) on cash handling by individuals.
The former Lagos governor
admitted the next day that the bullion vans were conveying money to his house,
but he defended his action as out of public’s interest because he was not a
government official.
Transparency deferred
Many Nigerians expected the EFCC
to investigate the incident for possible violation of Nigerian laws.
But the anti-graft office has
declined to comment on the matter — and there is no evidence it is
investigating it.
The first comments from the
agency on the scandal came during a tweet meet on Thursday, during which the
agency found a convenient opening to circumvent explanation.
“It is a matter of principle by
the EFCC not to discuss in public, issues that border around investigations,”
the agency said during the hour-long chat organised by the Tap Initiative in
Abuja.
The Tap Initiative, an
Abuja-based public policy think-tank, had asked whether or not the EFCC saw
potential violations of anti-money laundering regulations in Mr Tinubu’s
conduct.
The agency only confirmed that it
had secured convictions over vote-buying offences, while several other
investigations were ongoing around the same crimes.
It was unclear whether
acting-chairman Ibrahim Magu took part in the tweet meet, but EFCC sources revealed on Friday night that the responses of the agency came from a
senior anti-graft official.
Contributors dismissed the EFCC’s
explanation during the tweet meet, saying the agency was reluctant to
investigate Mr Tinubu because of his status as an ally of the president.
Martin Obono, the director of Tap
Initiative, said the organisation does not engage in partisan commentary about
its guests’ submission during a tweet meet, but the citizens have a right to
challenge any replies they deem unsatisfactory.
“We have brought the EFCC as a
guest on our May 23, 2019, edition of tweet meet, and asked questions that we
believe were in the public interest,” Mr Obono said. “But if Nigerians found
some of the responses insufficient, they can challenge them to move the
conversation forward.”
It was the second time the EFCC
would participate in the tweet meet, which Tap Initiative introduced in 2018 to
engage public officials for updates on their activities.
Its first appearance came in
November 2018, during which the agency similarly declined comments about
Abdullahi Ganduje, the Kano State governor who was caught on video receiving
wads of dollars in alleged bribes from public works contractor.
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Who is surprised that many weeks later, the EFCC is still yet to utter a word about Tinubu and his bullion van..the anti-corruption agency is corruption itself
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