Who Is This Nigeria's Mother of All Thieves?
April 14 2017 By Abiodun Giwa
The photo of the money as published by the Vanguard Newspapers
Five Billion Naira found in a Lagos apartment without an owner, leaving Nigerians to wonder about the identity of the mother of all thieves.
According to the news reports, the sums of $43million, £27,800 pounds and N23 million recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, from an apartment in the Ikoyi area of Lagos on Wednesday.
On Thursday, A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, ordered temporary forfeiture of the money, while the EFCC is yet to trace or disclose the owner of the money. But there are traces that are currently being pushed around with denials reigning among some politicians.
The name of the former chairman of the former ruling People Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Muazu surfaced as former owner of the building. He said in a report that he had since sold the house to an unnamed new owner. Another lady, formerly director of the retail subsidiary of the Nigeria national petroleum Corporation, NNPC, who was recently relieved of her job and linked to the money, spoke through a lawyer that she knew nothing about the money.
But there is an argument that had surfaced between media representatives to Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and the country's minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, over the ownership of the house, where the money was discovered and ownership of the money. The media representative of Fayose said that the house originally belonged Alhaji Muazu, but had been bought by Amaechi.
Fayose's representative gave a breakdown about hho apartments 7A belong to Mo Abudu - said to be a friend of Amaechi and 7B to Amaechi. But Amaechi media representative said that Fayose's media representative had peddled falsehood, asked him to withdraw the statement or be ready to go to jail.
As the argument deepens over the ownership of the money, Femi Fani Kayode tweeted that the money belongs to Amaechi and that the claim by security agencies that the money belongs to the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, is a ruse. It is till unclear how the NIA has come into the picture. Does it mean that a security agency is committing an act of money laundering by keeping money in a private house and not in a bank, a crime that some of these security agencies arrest and prosecute Nigerians in courts of law?
Are they saying that the NIA is this Nigeria's mother of all thieves? There is certainly more to the story and the office of President Muhammad Buhari must step in. Bringing in the NIA into the picture is nothing short of a cover up. People are already saying that it cannot be difficult to trace the owner of the building, especially those whose names have already surfaced as owners of apartments 7A and 7B.
Nigeria must not keep silent and allow this to be covered up. And if it is established that the NIA has kept the money there, all the senior officers responsible must not be only relieved of their posts, they must go to jail for life!
According to the news reports, the sums of $43million, £27,800 pounds and N23 million recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, from an apartment in the Ikoyi area of Lagos on Wednesday.
On Thursday, A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, ordered temporary forfeiture of the money, while the EFCC is yet to trace or disclose the owner of the money. But there are traces that are currently being pushed around with denials reigning among some politicians.
The name of the former chairman of the former ruling People Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Muazu surfaced as former owner of the building. He said in a report that he had since sold the house to an unnamed new owner. Another lady, formerly director of the retail subsidiary of the Nigeria national petroleum Corporation, NNPC, who was recently relieved of her job and linked to the money, spoke through a lawyer that she knew nothing about the money.
But there is an argument that had surfaced between media representatives to Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and the country's minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, over the ownership of the house, where the money was discovered and ownership of the money. The media representative of Fayose said that the house originally belonged Alhaji Muazu, but had been bought by Amaechi.
Fayose's representative gave a breakdown about hho apartments 7A belong to Mo Abudu - said to be a friend of Amaechi and 7B to Amaechi. But Amaechi media representative said that Fayose's media representative had peddled falsehood, asked him to withdraw the statement or be ready to go to jail.
As the argument deepens over the ownership of the money, Femi Fani Kayode tweeted that the money belongs to Amaechi and that the claim by security agencies that the money belongs to the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, is a ruse. It is till unclear how the NIA has come into the picture. Does it mean that a security agency is committing an act of money laundering by keeping money in a private house and not in a bank, a crime that some of these security agencies arrest and prosecute Nigerians in courts of law?
Are they saying that the NIA is this Nigeria's mother of all thieves? There is certainly more to the story and the office of President Muhammad Buhari must step in. Bringing in the NIA into the picture is nothing short of a cover up. People are already saying that it cannot be difficult to trace the owner of the building, especially those whose names have already surfaced as owners of apartments 7A and 7B.
Nigeria must not keep silent and allow this to be covered up. And if it is established that the NIA has kept the money there, all the senior officers responsible must not be only relieved of their posts, they must go to jail for life!
