Corruption: EFCC declares plan to investigate Nigeria’s SDG offices, request crucial documents

Corruption: EFCC declares plan to investigate Nigeria’s SDG offices, request crucial documents

  • The government's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) goals will soon be under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
  • An emerging report confirms that the EFCC has requested crucial documents to aid the investigation
  • It is believed that the investigation will be bordering on money laundering, fraud and abuse of office

Government offices saddled with the responsibility of actualizing and driving the course of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

As reported by Premium Times, the EFCC sent a letter of inquiry to the SDGs office dated Monday, October 17, to commence the routine process of the investigation.

EFCC, SDGs
The EFCC in a letter sent to the SDG office requested a series of documents to commence investigation. Photo: EFCC
Source: Facebook

The letter of inquiry, signed by Ahmed Ghali of EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Command, revealed that the investigation would be conducted on issues bordering on money laundering, fraud and abuse of office perpetrated by SDG officials.

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Reacting to the position of the EFCC, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on SDGs, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, said the activities of the anti-graft agency were normal while noting that the commission’s letter only interprets a routinary inter-agency communication and not crime investigation.

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As contained in the EFCC letter titled, ‘Investigation Activities: Request for information, six companies alleged to have executed contracts under the umbrella of the SDGs office between 2017 and 2020 were stipulated in the letter.

These companies were, namely, Nurla Consulting Serv. Ltd, Value Builders Nig. Ltd, Metrics Integrated Solar Service, Jacodi Nigeria Limited, Hisense Technology Ltd, and Prismvisa Contr. Nig. Ltd.

What EFCC is demanding for investigation

As contained in the letter, the EFCC reeled out a couple of items needed to commence the investigation, ranging from documents of contracts awarded within the said time frame.

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Similarly, the SDGs office was urged to provide certificates of the completion of projects, payment vouchers, and soft copies of the detailed document of the contracts awarded to companies.

To back its request, the EFCC said the exercise was in line with the statutory provisions of the law, which can be seen in sections 38(1) and (2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishments) Act, 2004 and Section 24 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2022 as amended.

Meanwhile, Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC's spokesperson, did not respond to calls and texts sent to his known phone number.

Ex-accountant-general Idris returns $900,000 in cash, shares N84.7b with others, witness reveals

In another development, Ahmed Idris has voluntary returned about $900,000 part of the public funds he allegedly diverted according to EFCC.

This was disclosed by an official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Hayatudeen Ahmed.

The witness also told the court how Idris allegedly hired his ex-aide, Akindele as a consultant to distribute N84.3bilion out of the N84.7b.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Segun Adeyemi avatar

Segun Adeyemi (Current Affairs and Politics Editor) Segun Adeyemi is a journalist with over 9 years of experience as an active field reporter, editor, and editorial manager. He has had stints with Daily Trust newspaper, Daily Nigerian, and News Digest. He currently works as an editor for Legit.ng's current affairs and politics desk. He holds a degree in Mass Communication (Adekunle Ajasin University). He is a certified digital reporter by Reuters, AFP and the co-convener of the annual campus journalism awards. Email: segun.adeyemi@corp.legit.ng.