The Zonal Coordinator, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in charge of Bauchi, Taraba and Gombe states, Michael Wetkas, on Thursday revealed that the commission stopped an immediate past governor in the zone from embezzling N11.5bn few hours to handover.
He stated this during a walk to commemorate African Anti- Corruption Day in Gombe State.
The theme of the day was ‘Towards a common African position on asset recovery.’
Noting that corruption was the biggest problem facing the country, Wetkas said Nigeria lost over $400 billion to the malaise from independence up till 2012.
He also disclosed that from January 2019 till date, his zone has recorded 55 convictions, made over N90m worth of recoveries and secured 11 interim forfeited property.
“You know as well as I do know that one of the biggest problems we have in Nigeria is corruption. It has been the bane of our underdevelopment, cause of unemployment, decay of our infrastructure and above all, national insecurity.
“You may have your doubts but the facts are there. Africa as a continent loses N50bn annually. Nigeria as a country from independence to 2012, had lost over $400bn.
“To prevent and combat corruption, President Muhammadu Buhari, in line with his fight against corruption, started a campaign since his first term in office on repatriation of funds stolen from Nigeria. There is a conscious effort by stakeholders to adopt a white paper. We want to raise the consciousness and urge every citizen to be part of the anti-corruption campaign, When you see something, say something, it is your duty to say something. Law enforcement is not witchcraft,” Wetkas said.
As part of the day’s activities, Wetkas returned diverted relief materials to Internally Displaced Persons’ camp in Gombe State.
He said: “You see those relief materials there, they are the products of someone that saw something and he chose to say something.
“As a zone, from January to date, we have secured 55 convictions, over N90m worth of recoveries, 11 interim forfeited property, two already forfeited to the Federal Government. For some of us, that are aware of criminal justice system, it is not a mere feat. We received intelligence that one of the outgoing governors within our zone, eleven hours to the end of his tenure, had perfected plans to spend N11.5bn.
“The intelligence was received in the night; early in the morning, we got the account frozen and we are yet to unfreeze it, until we are sure government funds are safe. It is not our responsibility to stop government from spending but once there is such information, we ensure it doesn’t happen.
“As a zone, we will like to warn that the Anchor Borrower scheme has become a conduit of corruption, employment scam, counterfeiting of currency, land racketeering; it has become means of extorting money from innocent farmers.”
