The suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal and the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayo Oke, may be investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) when the three-man panel set up by President Muhammadu Buhari concludes its work, the Presidency has said.
Buhari had on Wednesday suspended Lawal over the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on North East, while Oke was suspended in connection with discovery of large amounts of foreign and local currencies by the EFCC in a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, for which the NIA has made a claim.
The President set up a three-man committee comprising the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN); the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, and headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, to investigate the allegations against both government officials.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, who featured on Sunrise Daily, a breakfast Programme on Channels Television in Abuja on Friday, said both government officials would be handed over to the EFCC if there is need for it.
Adesina also said it was right for Buhari to set up an investigative panel to look into the allegations against the SGF and the claim to the slush funds by the NIA DG.
He said: “If it (investigation by the EFCC) gets to that point it will be done but it seems not to have got to that point now. After the investigation, after the panel concludes its work and there is anything for the EFCC to look at I am sure it will be done.
“The government believes that setting up an investigation at this time is right and government has the mandate of the people. It will not satisfy everybody but it does not matter.
“You will never win with some Nigerians, they will always find faults but then, government has been elected and government is in place to do certain things and government would do what it believes to be right at any given time.”
The presidential aide also said the Buhari administration’s anti-corruption fight had always been there.
“The anti- corruption war had been there. You don’t necessarily judge something by the volume of noise that accompanies it. For me as an insider I know a lot had been going. Allegations must always be investigated,” he said.
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THE NATION
