Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Makes Claim About Missing Funds

EFCC mischievous over alleged missing N32bn El-Rufai

National News Jun 29, 2010
Nigeria Vanguard
By Ise-Oluwa Ige

ABUJA — Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, yesterday, dismissed as spurious, wicked and mischievous, an allegation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, that a total N32 billion of the proceeds realised from the sale of Federal Government houses between 2005 and 2007, under his supervision, was missing.

He said two professional teams of international auditors—Messrs Akintola Williams Deloite and Aminu Ibrahim and Co— commissioned by the Federal Government in March 2007 to carefully review and audit the accounts on the sale of the Federal Government houses not only gave him clean bill of health but that the financial records of all the financial institutions that played roles in the sale also exonerated him.

Rufai told the Abuja Federal High court yesterday that he had nothing to hide about the transaction.

Rufai sued EFCC and 12 others over the allegation.

The disclosures on the clean bill of health came on a day the Abuja Federal high court entertaining Rufai’s case gave a fresh order, summoning the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Capital Development Authourity (FCDA) and three commercial banks to appear before it to tender documents and give oral explanations on the sale.

Although EFCC played no role in the transaction, now a subject of litigation, the trial high court judge, Justice Adamu Bello, also wanted it to appear before him on the next adjourned date for hearing of legal arguments on the transactions and the desirability of some of the parties joined in the matter to the resolution of the dispute.

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