Fresh reports indicate that the Federal Government is not
leaving any stone unturned in its effort to trace and repatriate illicit funds
that might had been looted and stashed away in far away Dubai, United Arab
Emirates by influential but fraudulent politicians and top government
officials.
According to a report by Vanguard, the Federal Government
has dispatched the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
Mr. Ibrahim Magu and some other top officials of the anti-graft agency to Dubai
with a view to gathering intelligence on stolen assets in that country.
The aim is to be able to seize such property with ease and
bring the owners to justice in line with its anti-corruption disposition,” a
source close to the deal, told Vanguard on Tuesday. Vanguard learnt from an
EFCC source that Magu and his lieutenants are taking advantage of the ongoing
three-day event of the 2019 Intersec Security Summit in UAE to meet with the
Dubai intelligence community to strategise on how to close in on owners of
illicit cash and property in that nation, a tourist destination for most
Nigerian elite.
A top federal government official who described the
government’s latest move as timely, said that the Dubai summit is one of the
largest security and intelligence gatherings in the world where concerted
efforts are taken to prevent illicit funds from undermining the national
security.
The government official said: “I can tell you
authoritatively that the Nigerian team led by Magu, met with the Dubai
intelligence last Monday in company of crack detectives for intelligence
sharing and cooperation.
This is directly connected to the illicit assets tracing and
financial flow vis-a-vis the commission’s active surveillance on vote-buying
and monitoring of its funding source. You will recall that the purpose of those
who looted our commonwealth is to bring in the illicit funds into the country
in order to undermine national security and engage in voter inducement.
Please note that the development is capable of scaring
investors, discouraging investments and crippling the economy,” the top
officials said.
The development came barely 24 hours after the Minister of
Information, Mr. Lai Mohammed, raised the alarm that some unnamed elements were
planning the disrupt the forthcoming elections but did not give any evidence to
buttress the claim, citing security reports as his basis.
The Special Assistant on Media to the EFCC Chairman, Tony
Amokeodo, however declined to confirm or deny the story, saying however that
his boss and some crack detectives from the commission were outside the country
for serious assignment but did not name the particular country.
