Fresh facts have emerged about the N13 billion uncovered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC at Osborne Towers Ikoyi, Lagos. Sources said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo led probe panel has been receiving stunning insights into the issue.
Highly placed sources at National Intelligence Agency, NIA vert close to the Presidential Committees have disclosed that several documents have been presented by the NIA, the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA and the EFCC. The EFCC uncovered the huge sums of money including $43million at the apartment. Already the Presidential Committee is sifting the grains from the chaff from the pile of documents in its possession.
Newsdiaryonline gathered that it has been established that while the suspended DG NIA Oke briefed the President through the National Security Adviser, Babagana Moguno about a project authorized by former president Goodluck Jonathan over which money was released, the DG did not disclose that any huge chunk of the fund released to NIA was being privately hidden away. He concealed the hidden billions, from President Buhari and the NSA.
Sources told Newsdiaryonline that one of the documents already with the VP Osinbajo Committee was a letter to the President dated 24th March 2016 addressed by the NSA to President Muhammadu Buhari. In the letter, the NSA told the President that the NIA received huge sum of money from former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Excerpt from the NSA’s letter to Buhari reads, “Based on this, this office carried out preliminary investigations during which the NIA claimed that the money was released for some projects aimed at commemorating the agency’s 30th anniversary”. The concluding paragraph of the NSA’s letter to Buhari noted, perhaps with some clairvoyance, though, “these are noble objectives, the possibility exists for the proceeds to be misused in the future by NIA leadership.”
Further it was gathered that another document now before the Osinbajo Committee is the correspondence by the NSA to the DG NIA with reference number NSA/332/S. The letter from the NSA reads: “I empanelled and mandated a 3-man verification team to conduct comprehensive inspection of the NIA projects in Lagos and Abuja.
“In view of the foregoing and in accordance with the legal and constitutional guarantee relating to establishment structure and constitutional guarantees and the duties of the NIA enshrined in paragraph 12 sub sections 1 and 2 of the instrument no 1…..”
He continued, “The office of the NSA shall henceforth take on the task of verifying the current state of the projects and associated records”
The NSA’s letter concluded, ”In the context of these oversight functions, the NIA is hereby required to avail the NSA by annual updates on these projects until completion.”
One highly placed source close to the ongoing investigative panel confirmed to Newsdiaryonline that while it is true President Muhammadu Buhari was informed by the DG NIA through the NSA, he concealed the funds privately kept in Lagos from them. “The DG NIA concealed and refused tell them part of the fund was privately hidden, “a source claimed.
