|
Dear Editor,
Many people accused the former
Chairman of EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, of
selective prosecution of corrupt
politicians. This is exactly what
the present EFCC Chairman Farida
Waziri is also allegedly being
accused of continuing. On the part
of IGP Onovo he is being accused of
inconsistency; he does not match his
utterances with actions.
Litmus test is starring them in the
face: Reading The Guardian
on Sunday newspaper of 6th
December, 2009 entitled “Bank
Chief Nabbed Over Possession of
$3.1million at Lagos Airport”;
the case has been transferred to
Abuja Police headquarters. One
expected that the case should have
been transferred to EFCC without the
present delays.
The Guardian reported that a woman
Deputy General Manager with a
recently rescued bank was arrested
on November 11, at the Lagos
airport, carrying with her $3.1m in
cash. On interrogation, she
confessed that she was ferrying it
to Abuja on behalf of a governor of
one of the southern States. The
woman was later identified to be the
wife of the governor’s Special
Assistant for Utilities..
While The Guardian report was
diplomatic, an online publication
www.pointblanknews.com,
in its news posted the same date
(December 6, 2009) as The
Guardian’s, was specific with
names – Akpabio is the governor
while the bank woman is Mrs. Emem
Etuk, wife to Akpabio’s Special
Assistant for Utilities. Mrs. Etuk
was detained by Lagos for two weeks
before transferring her to Abuja.
The online newspaper revealed that
the governor has been shuttling to
and from Abuja, seeking ‘political’
solution after failing in lobbying
the bank (Bank PHB) to accept
ownership of the cash. The bank
offered him apology for refusing to
play along because it lacked
documentation and would be unable to
convince anyone that as a bank it
allowed Mrs. Etuk to carry such huge
amount (in foreign exchange) on
behalf of the bank, unescorted.
The public waits to see how both the
Police and EFCC handle this case of
money laundering (and stealing of
public fund). One other interesting
thing was Etuk’s confession that it
was “profit” from government fund
which was lodged in the governor’s
private account with the bank. This
confirms that some governors treat
State funds as their private estate.
CHIEF PATRICK UMOETTE, 358 AWOLOWO
WAY, IKEJA |
