From Victor Osula, Abuja
Olukoyede
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, has explained that the Commission’s mandate goes beyond arresting and protecting persons found to have committed financial crime to tackling the system that encourages and perpetuate corruption.
Speaking with journalists at the headquarters of the commission in the Jabi area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Olukoyede, exemplified this mandate with the ongoing probe of suspended Minister of the Ministry, Dr. Betta Edu; her predecessor, Sadiya Farouk; and suspended Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, Halima Shehu.
He said it was the whole system that the EFCC was probing.
According to him, “N14 billion, under one hour, was moved in the Ministry. You call that a system? I told people: ‘Look, the people that have been suspended, if we had replaced them by now, even if you had brought saints into that ministry, in 24 hours, that saint would be contaminated.
“So, it’s not about Betta Edu, neither is it about Halima. Let’s not personalise the matter. Let’s not single out an individual. It’s about the system. It’s the system we are investigating.
“So, whosoever is found culpable, along the line, are the people that would be held. If I’m running after Betta Edu or Halima, and hundreds of other people are stealing money, what happens?
“Do you think this investigation started during Betta Edu’s time?
“Do you think it started during Halima’s?
“Do you even think it started during Sadiyya’s time as minister?
“Before that ministry was established, every single kobo that was allocated to that ministry was under investigation.
“So, we are talking of trillions (of naira).
“If we keep talking about Betta Edu, we won’t get anywhere.
“We would go back to where we are coming from.
“So, let us take our time and, in any case, when did we even start this investigation?
“I’ve said it before, we are investigating over 50 accounts.
“You must understand some of these processes.
“For each account, we write letters to banks and the banks reply.
“From there, we get other leads.
“From there, we follow those leads again and we start writing letters.
“Sometimes, it takes two, three weeks for them to reply.
“We bring people, we interview them.
“We run after those ones.
“Investigation takes time.
“I’ve not come out to say I’ve indicted so and so person.
“What I said was that we have recovered so, so amount.”
