The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) on Wednesday night said that governors
are ready to take on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
which is investigating possible diversion of the refund made to states
from the excess charges of Paris Club.
Chairman of the NGF and Zamfara state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, spoke with
State House correspondents at the end of the Forum’s meeting at the
Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said that governors would be waiting to see what the anti-graft agency
would come up with.
It was reported last week that the NGF may have used fictitious
consultants to divert some of the money from Paris Club which had
attracted the attention of the EFCC.
Worried by the development, the Presidency had ordered a full scale
investigation into the disbursement of the funds.
Insisting that the governors were ready for the EFCC probe, he expressed
governors’ support for the present administration’s war against
corruption, noting that they would wait for the outcome of the EFCC’s
investigation.
He said: “We discussed the issue of Paris Club and London Club. We
observed that EFCC said it is doing investigations. Yeah, we support the
federal government for fighting corruption.
“We are waiting for the EFCC to come up with what they say is the
investigation and come up with the result.”
The Presidency had ordered the investigation because it was angry that
what it had meant to be a good gesture had been compromised by selfish
interests.
Top Presidency source had disclosed that the federal government was
worried that its efforts to ensure the settlement of pension and salaries
owed to workers in the states was being sabotaged by likely diversion of
the funds earmarked for the purpose.
It therefore expressed its determination to get to the bottom of the
matter and consequently ordered relevant agencies to carry out a full
scale probe to unravel any abuse the fund might have been subjected to.
Some of the reports also showed that the governors were spoiling for war
with the acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, over the decision of
the EFCC to investigate alleged diversion of the money.