Facts have continued to emerge on the forces making desperate moves against Nigeria’s former Head of Service, Mr. Steve Oronsaye.
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Reliable sources within the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), who spoke on the grounds of anonymity, revealed that the negative media reports on Mr. Oronsaye were sponsored by cronies of the immediate past and even the present leadership of the Commission.

Perplexed by recent media trial of a senior citizen, one of the sources described the development as an unfortunate desperation to achieve selfish objectives.

Steve-Oronsayeand-efcc_340According to him, “this is not fair. It is not the first time. The other time, it was a report alleging that he was involved in N6.2b pension fund diversion while in office as Head of Service, among others. Another one was that the Auditor General’s Report indicted him for N123billion fraud. Again, the 7-count amended charge bothering on alleged criminal breach of trust, as Chairman of the Presidential Committee on the Financial Action Task Force-FATF, These things are all stories concocted to tarnish the image of the man seen as the backbone of the move to separate the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit from the EFCC, thereby giving it autonomy.”

“Do they think that Nigerians are fools? How come an “alleged case of fraud” claimed by the people that manufactured the story was kept in the shelf until when the move to establish the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Center-NFIC reached an advance stage; or was it kept as a weapon for blackmail against the elder statesman?” Is Premium Times and Sahara insinuating that EFCC cannot undertake any credible investigation without rushing to the newspapers? Are trials in Nigeria now executed on the pages of newspapers?”

Adding his voice, another source within the Commission confirmed the revelation, adding that Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, the former EFCC Chairman “was very bitter with the former head of Service for backing what he saw an offensive move and from all indications, the acting Chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Mustapha Magu is beginning to toe the same line.”

According to him, “This is cheer conspiracy to besmirch the good reputation Mr. Oronsoye has built over the years. It may be recalled that Mr. Oronsaye, as the former Head of Service personally wrote a letter reporting the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT) findings to EFCC, which resulted in the prosecution of one Mrs. Chidi and others.”

“Surprisingly, after the EFCC closed investigations in the Pension case in 2010, arraigned the subjects in 2011, obtained a “negotiated judgment” on one of the pension suspects in 2013, the ex-Chairman of EFCC in an obvious show of incompetence sought to reopen the investigation by claiming that one of the suspects “wrote an additional statement” to include Mr. Oronsaye.

“Note that Mrs. Phina Chidi is the lady who has been covering her face in all the pension trial cases. This is a woman whom, investigation reports showed glaring evidence of her involvement in moving money from pension accounts using “her under-aged children”. How can a woman who ought to have been convicted all of a sudden become a star witness for the EFCC? Was she under duress after three years to forge a story against Mr. Oronsaye? Why now? Nigerians are not asking questions. I work here; I am involved and we know what is happening.”

“We are all aware that Mr. Oronsaye started the investigation of Pension fraud when he became Head of Service. He set up the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT) before he retired in 2010. He also personally submitted the final report of that task team to EFCC and ICPC and invited them to investigate and prosecute those indicted before he retired. How come the complainant is now being witch hunted? Instead of prosecuting all those found guilty, EFCC has now turned to claim that it has evidence to prosecute Mr. Oronsaye –forged evidence generated by his ‘selected investigators’ from the North, including Mr. Mustapha Abdurrahman and Mr. Mustapha Gadanya, a younger brother to Mr. Tahir, who, not only was a staff of Mrs. Chidi, but who has been dismissed from civil service for conspiring with Mrs. Chidi to steal Pension fund? Why is EFCC making a charade of such an important case? As an insider, I feel pained, but we are helpless?”

Also, the move to establish the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Center (NFIC) that will be responsible for the receipt of information from financial institutions and designated non-financial institutions, analysis of the financial information for the purpose of turning this information into financial intelligence and dissemination of the financial intelligence to all law enforcement agencies was the issue that became a thorn in Mr. Larmode and Magu’s flesh. Lamorde vowed several times that he would do whatever it took to prevent the Chairman of the FATF Committee, Mr. oronsaye, and the members of the Presidential Committee from complying with international and regulatory requirements on the establishment of FIUs globally.

EFCC resorted to the media as a weapon to finish the credible statesman off. It is only a country like Nigeria that an anti-corruption agency like the EFCC will spend millions of Naira on media Organisations monthly to manipulate and influence media reports and outcome of investigations before the investigations are even concluded. Several Media Organisations are on the Commission’s payroll.

EFFC under Lamorde saw NFIU as its golden goose and cash cow, which was why the commission left no stone unturned in ensuring that the NFIC bill didn’t see the light of the day. Unfortunately, the acting chairman of the commission, Magu has started perceiving the NFIU in that light and has decided to start where his predecessor stopped in persecuting Mr. Oronsaye, who they see as the brains behind such laudable bill.
The commission and many Nigerians know very well that Oronsaye is innocent of the crime he is being accused of. President Muhammadu Buhari has to be aware that the EFCC which is supposed to combat corruption sincerely in order to ensure the success of the anti-corruption crusade of the present administration has begun to derail from that track and is now beginning to witch-hunt some people like Mr. Steve Oronsaye. If Magu ever toes the line of Lamorde, then he should consider himself as a misfit and leave that office immediately.

hmmm

Confused leaders!