Men
of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC on Saturday 30th
January visited the office of former Vice President Namadi Sambo in Abuja, in search
of documents but also found $50,000 cash.
It
was reported by The Nation, EFCC may have ransacked his office over an alleged
N20 million monthly subvention he received from the Office of the National
Security Adviser while he was Vice President.
It
was said that the search came about an unusual movement of hefty bags into the
office of Sambo’s Manyatha Company on Saturday. EFCC sources say the relocation
of the suspicious bags from the ex-vice president Sambo's home to the office
made the agency act quickly.
An
EFCC sources said:
"The
ongoing investigation of $2.1 billion arms cash under ex-NSA Sambo Dasuki has
been extended to the former VP. The search started on Saturday till the early
hours of Monday. Apart from getting N20 million monthly from ONSA, we got
tip-off on movement of some bags loaded with hard currency. All we did was to
investigate this clue by searching the ex-VP’s office in a cautious manner and
in the full glare of the employees. At the appropriate time, we will inform the
public of our findings. We are also looking at the circumstances behind the N20
million grant allocated to the ex-VP’s office by the ONSA. Ordinarily, a
sitting VP has a budget for his office. It is like subjugating your office to a
junior public officer if you have to be taking N20 million from the Office of
National Security Adviser (ONSA). We cannot be blind to this important aspect
of monthly grant to a VP by the former security adviser. Some former
presidential aides are also under investigation.”
A
source close to the former Vice President confirmed the search of the office in
Abuja’s Central Business District (CBD).
“The
EFCC operatives invaded the Manyatha Company of the former Vice President on
Saturday, broke the doors. The operatives did not come with any warrant and
when they left, there was no record of inventories. What happened was that the
ex-VP moved some documents in Ghana-Must-Go bags from his house to the office
in the Central Business District. I think they got false alarm that dollars
were stuffed in the bags and decided to raid the office on the sixth floor. We
share the same office complex with the British Visa Section. Do you know that
since Saturday, the policemen brought by the EFCC are still in the office? The
EFCC asked the company to repair its doors before the police could leave the
place.”
On
the alleged N20 million collected monthly from ONSA, the source added:
“It is a statutory subvention for the Office of
the Vice President. When ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was VP, he was getting
it. The same subvention was given to ex-VP Atiku
Abubakar. Ex-VP Sambo is ready to defend the subvention when necessary. He did
not steal public funds and he did not get campaign funds from ONSA.”LIB
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