Considering the level of investigations con\u00adducted on the Good\u00adluck<\/p>\n
Jonathan admin\u00adistration, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
\n(EFCC) may arrest the former president before May, 29, 2016, when the
\ncurrent administration would have clocked one year in office, a top
\nofficial of the agen\u00adcy has said.<\/p>\n
The EFCC top shot, who spoke with The AUTHORITY at the weekend, disclosed
\nthat the arrest, two weeks ago, of the Managing Director of Kakatar
\nEngineering and Construction Company Limited, Mr. Azibao\u00adla Robert, whom
\nthe official de\u00adscribed as \u201cclosest kinsman of former president Jonathan
\nso far,\u201d was a clear indication that \u201cwe are inching close to making
\nformer President Jonathan our guest.\u201d<\/p>\n
The official dismissed as reckless recent comments by another former
\nPresident, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, dismissing the anti-graft agency as a
\n\u201ctooth\u00adless bulldog.\u201d<\/p>\n
The EFCC chief predicted that \u201cunfolding events in the next few weeks will
\nactually confirm whether the EFCC has indeed become a toothless bulldog.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said the official, \u201cWe ar\u00adrested Mr. Azibaola Robert on March 23, 2016
\nwhen he came to honour our invitation. We also arrested his wife, but she
\nhas since been granted bail. The following day, we arrested Da\u00adkoru
\nAtukpa, Executive Direc\u00adtor of his company. As we speak, both men are in
\nour custody and are helping with vital informa\u00adtion needed to nail the
\nformer president.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the official, Robert and Atukpa were arrest\u00aded in connection
\nwith what he described as \u201congoing investi\u00adgations\u201d into a $40 million oil
\npipeline security contract, which emanated from the Ministry of Petroluem,
\nbut was paid for by the office of the equally detained former National
\nSecurity Ad\u00adviser (NSA), Retired Col. Sam\u00adbo Dasuki.<\/p>\n
The EFCC official said the commission was working on a lead that One-Plus
\nNigeria Lim\u00adited, Kakatar\u2019s sister compa\u00adny which secured the oil
\npipe\u00adline security contract, may have been a front of former President
\nGoodluck Jonathan.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cEven though One-Plus appeared to have success\u00adfully executed the
\ncontract, we are interested in details of how the company executed the
\njob, including those who got paid from the $40 million sum.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though we are still in\u00advestigating, there is sufficient suspicion
\nthat both men used One-Plus as front of the former President. The Managing
\nDirec\u00adtor of One-Plus has constantly maintained that the company was
\nincorporated well before Jonathan became Vice Presi\u00addent, and that it
\nwasn\u2019t a crime to come from Otuoke,\u201d offered the official.<\/p>\n
The EFCC official said the commission was unsettled by former president
\nOlusegun Oba\u00adsanjo\u2019s recent description of the agency as a toothless
\nbulldog, and was committed to taking on persons considered sacred cows
\njust to prove Obasanjo wrong.<\/p>\n
He said, \u2018You know for\u00admer President Obasanjo has his unique way of
\npassing his mes\u00adsage. Before Obasanjo even de\u00adscribed our Commission as a
\ntoothless bulldog, several per\u00adsons accused us of shielding former
\nPresident Jonathan. The truth is that we are not shielding anybody. It
\nwill not be good for us to rush to court only to be dis\u00adgraced, the reason
\nwe took this long to make the arrests.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, be assured that a very big fish will land in our net before May
\n29. We intend to make the arrest of this big fish a Democracy Day gift to
\nNigeri\u00adans,\u201d offered the official.<\/p>\n
Tasked to unmask the identi\u00adty of the \u201cbig fish,\u201d the EFCC of\u00adficial
\nretorted, \u201cyou are a jour\u00adnalist and should know better.\u201d<\/p>\n
The EFCC official ruled out the possibility of an early ar\u00adraignment for
\nJonathan\u2019s kins\u00admen, saying, \u201cwe will keep them in custody for as long as
\npossible, and for as long as they cooperate and tell us the whole truth
\nabout what they know about the trans\u00adactions, and the involvement of the
\nformer president.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said the EFCC officer, \u201cFor\u00adtunately, we have secured a court order to
\nkeep them (Jonathan\u2019s kinsmen) for another two weeks. If need be, we will
\napply for an extension. But be assured that we won\u2019t allow this matter go
\nthe way of others. With this case, we will prove those who accuse us of
\nbeing toothless bulldogs wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Contacted, head of media of Kakatar, Mr. Austin Ekheinde, declined
\ncomments, referring The AUTHORITY to his boss\u2019s lawyer Gordy Uche, SAN,
\nwho confirmed the arrest by EFCC of the MD and ED of Kakatar CE Limited.<\/p>\n
Said the senior lawyer, \u201cYes, EFCC arrested my clients Messrs Azibaola
\nRobert and Dakoru Atukpa, MD and ED respective\u00adly of Kakatar CE and
\nOne-Plus, on March 23 and 24th respec\u00adtively, when they went to hon\u00adour
\nEFCC invitation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawyer confirmed that both men were being detained in connection with
\na $40 million pipeline security contract, and the purchase of a N650
\nmillion house, but that the EFCC has re\u00adfused to arraign them before a
\ncompetent court.<\/p>\n
According to the SAN. op\u00aderatives of the Commission conducted several
\nsearches on the offices of the detained men, carting away several
\ndocuments . The lawyer said he was reasona\u00adbly informed that both men were
\nbeing made to make statements under duress implicating for\u00admer President
\nGoodluck Jona\u00adthan ostensibly to serve certain interests.<\/p>\n
Aside Obasanjo, who dubbed the EFCC a \u201ctoothless bulldog\u201d for not going
\nafter \u201csa\u00adcred cows,\u201d top officials of the ruling All Progressives
\nCon\u00adgress (APC) have been mount\u00ading pressures on President Mu\u00adhammadu
\nBuhari to give EFCC the nod to arrest Jonathan, who last year shocked the
\nworld by becoming the first African presi\u00addent to concede defeat in a
\npres\u00adidential election even before the results were officially released.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Considering the level of investigations con\u00adducted on the Good\u00adluck Jonathan admin\u00adistration, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may arrest the former president before May, 29, 2016, when the current…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n