According to reports, an officer in charge of the exhibit room at the Kaduna Zonal Office stole more than $30,000 and other precious exhibits, entangling the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, in yet another internal controversy.
The nation’s top anti-corruption organisation announced earlier in January that it had arrested ten officers in Lagos for stealing operating supplies they were unable to trace.
The commission did not specify the precise things that the officers had taken, but according to investigations, they had taken gold bars valued at over N1 billion, over $180,000, and over GBP 140,000.
In the most recent controversy, the reporters exclusively learnt that a commission employee, only known as Polycarp, disappeared after failing to account for “more than $30,000.”
Following the internal heist that took place in Lagos, the zonal director, Benedict Ubi, requested an audit of the directorate’s display room a few weeks ago, according to insiders who wished to remain anonymous and spoke to this publication.
The reports claim that Mr. Polycarp made up an excuse to relax and ran away when he was informed that the exhibit area would be audited.
He immediately made an excuse to relax when the audit order was issued. They tried calling him, but all of his phone lines were off.
“This is just what the foreign exchange preliminary audit reveals. A detailed audit of the display room may reveal more information, according to a source with knowledge of the development.
The commission had started a quest to find the fugitive officer, this publication learnt.
A commission officer was charged in 2019 with accepting a bribe of $20,000 from a businessman at Lagos State’s Murtala Mohammed International Airport.
Ibrahim Magu, the commission’s acting head at the time, reinstated him in spite of his admission of guilt. The situation remained confidential.
After the reporters released a leaked audio recording in 2021 showing an officer assisting suspects in getting their accounts unfrozen and charges against them reduced, the anti-graft agency fired the officer.
Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC’s spokesman at the time, called the officer “a crooked fifth columnist with minimal regard for the values of the commission” and said his behaviour was disrespectful of the agency’s SOP.
“Snippets of the audio tape plainly demonstrated a terribly corrupted ‘cop’ dropping names to curry favour with his patron, a criminal suspect’s relative, regardless of the investigation’s conclusion.
“By the accused behaviour, the stated officer is only a dishonest fifth columnist who shows little respect for the commission’s values.”
The commission declared on January 6 that it had fired 27 officials for a variety of violations that teetered on misconduct and fraud.
Credible sources stated that it was the entire number of employees fired for fraud since the EFCC’s founding in 2003, despite the anti-graft agency making it seem recent.
Dele Oyewale, the EFCC spokesperson, did not answer calls or reply to an SMS sent to his known mobile number, therefore our correspondent’s attempts to elicit his response were unsuccessful.
CREDIT: Nairtaland, Allschoolabs
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