There is an uneasy calm within the leadership of Nigeria’s anti-graft police, the EFCC whose Chairman Ibrahim Lamorde is currently embroiled in a bitter battle with an Assistant Director in the Commission, Ms Juliet Ibekaku who until last week was the acting Director of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU domiciled in the EFCC.
Investigations by iReports-ng.com revealed that the daily festering scandal started when Ibekaku began to operate the NFIU as an autonomous intelligence agency by compiling dirty reports of secret movements of funds in and out of the country by top government officials using Nigerian banks. The sacked FIU boss was said to have taken some of the reports including a dirty dossier of corruption on the EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde to President Goodluck Jonathan. The president in turn handed over some of the reports to the Department of State Security Service to investigate instead of the EFCC which is empowered by law to investigate and prosecute financial crimes because of the indictment of Lamorde in the reports.
The reports, a top source in DSS told our reporters in Abuja led to the recent arrest of some highly placed officials of some banks who are still being detained in Abuja. Uncomfortable that the presidency may soon act on his indictment, Lamorde was said to have moved against Ibekaku last week. He ordered her immediate redeployment from NFIU and posted her to the legal department of the EFCC, Lagos office. To prevent Ibekaku from leaving the FIU with any sensitive document, Lamorde sent a detachment of armed mobile policemen to chase out Ibekaku and other officials of the FIU thus distrupting its operations for several hours.
When the invasion of the NFIU was leaked to the media, the Commission in a statement denied such ever happened but admitted that Ibekaku was removed and another officer of the Commission posted there. A close source to Ibekaku however told iReports-ng.com that “the Commission lied by denying such a shameless invasion of an autonomous sensitive government agency simply because Juliet has some indicting dossier on the EFCC chairman detailing his rackets. But they forget that the documents of the scandal they were trying to cover up have gone into safe hands.” Some of the documents have already been obtained by iReports-ng.com while the source who said what we have seen remains a child’s play promised to avail us more in the coming days.
Not done with Ibekaku who has the backing of some top officials in the presidency, members of the National Assembly and former Head of Service, Steve Oronsanye, Lamorde was said to have decided to hit back at those who provided the link for Ibekaku to submit such damning report to President Jonathan on him. Oronsanye then becomes a target. The former Head of Service was said to have been instrumental to the access Ibekaku has to the presidency because of his closeness to President Jonathan. Besides, Oronsanye was said to have been responsible, as the Chairman of the Presidential committee on Financial Action Task Force, FATF, for the bill currently sailing through the Senate for the setting up of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Agency, which will ultimately make NFIU legally autonomous. Before now, Oronsanye as Chairman of the Committee handling reforms in the public service had recommended the merging of the EFCC with the Police Force.
It was further gathered that while the EFCC chairman has hired media consultants to help manage the damaging effects of the dossier now generating the heat in the Commission if it eventually leaks in the media, he has on the other hand fired back at Oronsanye by summoning him to appear before a team of operatives today to explain his relationships with some former officials of the Pension Office in the Office of the Head of Service. A source close to Oronsanye told iReports-ng.com in Abuja that “oga (Oronsanye) is ready for Lamorde if he thinks he can blackmail someone of the status of Oronsanye with some cooked up allegations. Imagine him (Lamorde) inviting oga to come and answer questions over a matter that had been investigated and charged to court by even his predecessor, Madam Waziri. Why? We know it’s a blackmail and a way of getting back at oga over the indicting dossier said to have been compiled by the NFIU boss who was physically rough handled and forced out of her office by policemen attached to the EFCC last week. The matter is just starting though as the whole truth will soon be let out because the last has not been heard yet.”
Investigations by iReports-ng.com revealed that the daily festering scandal started when Ibekaku began to operate the NFIU as an autonomous intelligence agency by compiling dirty reports of secret movements of funds in and out of the country by top government officials using Nigerian banks. The sacked FIU boss was said to have taken some of the reports including a dirty dossier of corruption on the EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde to President Goodluck Jonathan. The president in turn handed over some of the reports to the Department of State Security Service to investigate instead of the EFCC which is empowered by law to investigate and prosecute financial crimes because of the indictment of Lamorde in the reports.
The reports, a top source in DSS told our reporters in Abuja led to the recent arrest of some highly placed officials of some banks who are still being detained in Abuja. Uncomfortable that the presidency may soon act on his indictment, Lamorde was said to have moved against Ibekaku last week. He ordered her immediate redeployment from NFIU and posted her to the legal department of the EFCC, Lagos office. To prevent Ibekaku from leaving the FIU with any sensitive document, Lamorde sent a detachment of armed mobile policemen to chase out Ibekaku and other officials of the FIU thus distrupting its operations for several hours.
When the invasion of the NFIU was leaked to the media, the Commission in a statement denied such ever happened but admitted that Ibekaku was removed and another officer of the Commission posted there. A close source to Ibekaku however told iReports-ng.com that “the Commission lied by denying such a shameless invasion of an autonomous sensitive government agency simply because Juliet has some indicting dossier on the EFCC chairman detailing his rackets. But they forget that the documents of the scandal they were trying to cover up have gone into safe hands.” Some of the documents have already been obtained by iReports-ng.com while the source who said what we have seen remains a child’s play promised to avail us more in the coming days.
Not done with Ibekaku who has the backing of some top officials in the presidency, members of the National Assembly and former Head of Service, Steve Oronsanye, Lamorde was said to have decided to hit back at those who provided the link for Ibekaku to submit such damning report to President Jonathan on him. Oronsanye then becomes a target. The former Head of Service was said to have been instrumental to the access Ibekaku has to the presidency because of his closeness to President Jonathan. Besides, Oronsanye was said to have been responsible, as the Chairman of the Presidential committee on Financial Action Task Force, FATF, for the bill currently sailing through the Senate for the setting up of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Agency, which will ultimately make NFIU legally autonomous. Before now, Oronsanye as Chairman of the Committee handling reforms in the public service had recommended the merging of the EFCC with the Police Force.
It was further gathered that while the EFCC chairman has hired media consultants to help manage the damaging effects of the dossier now generating the heat in the Commission if it eventually leaks in the media, he has on the other hand fired back at Oronsanye by summoning him to appear before a team of operatives today to explain his relationships with some former officials of the Pension Office in the Office of the Head of Service. A source close to Oronsanye told iReports-ng.com in Abuja that “oga (Oronsanye) is ready for Lamorde if he thinks he can blackmail someone of the status of Oronsanye with some cooked up allegations. Imagine him (Lamorde) inviting oga to come and answer questions over a matter that had been investigated and charged to court by even his predecessor, Madam Waziri. Why? We know it’s a blackmail and a way of getting back at oga over the indicting dossier said to have been compiled by the NFIU boss who was physically rough handled and forced out of her office by policemen attached to the EFCC last week. The matter is just starting though as the whole truth will soon be let out because the last has not been heard yet.”
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