FIVE STATES UNDER EFCC INVESTIGATION FOR FRUDLENT ACTS

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is investigating five state governments in connection with suspected financial crimes, sources in the commission said on Tuesday.

The states under probe by the EFCC included Kano, Jigawa, Imo, Ebonyi and Rivers.

It was learnt that five other state governments were under watch but the commission had not moved against them.



A source said that the commission had been silent on some of the cases involving deductions from local government funds at source in some of the states in order to avoid sending out wrong signals that the anti-graft commission was being used for political victimisation.

It was further learnt that the cases against the governments were being handled by the Public Governance Unit of the EFCC.

Another source in the EFCC said the commission commenced investigations into the Rivers State Government accounts shortly after the crisis that rocked the state House of Assembly and that anti-graft operatives had yet to conclude the investigation.

Already, the EFCC source said the commission had invited some members of the Rivers House for interrogation.

The source added that the commission’s investigation in Ebonyi State, which was said to have led to the arrest of three top government officials, rested on alleged illegal deductions from local government funds for questionable projects.

The commission recently arrested three top officials of the state government in relation with alleged illegal deductions of local government funds at source for asphalt projects in all the 13 local government areas of the state.

It was further stated that the EFCC was also investigating a former governor (name withheld) in relation with an ongoing investigation into the accounts of one of the states.

Our correspondent could not get the head of media and publicity of the EFCC, Wilson Uwajaren, to comment on the ongoing investigations as he did not pick the calls made to his mobile telephone line.