JULY 16, 2013
Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde
Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Mr. Ahmadu Giade, on Monday said the agency transferred over N93.1bn it seized from traffickers to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission from 2006 to date.
Giade, who appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Drugs/Narcotics and Financial Crimes in Abuja, told the lawmakers that the anti-graft agency handed over 70 case files to the EFCC for prosecution.
He, however, said only three of the cases had been successfully concluded by the EFCC to the knowledge of the NDLEA.
The committee, which is chaired by Mr. Adams Jagaba, is investigating the status of assets seized or recovered by the EFCC till date.
A breakdown of the money the NDLEA handed over to the EFCC included N27.8m; $2.8m; $7.1m (fake); £20.3m; £188m (fake); €11,266; €6,400 (fake); and CFA93.7m. The total money is about N93.1bn.
Giade informed the committee that by procedure, the NDLEA was required to transfer all seized assets and suspects’ case files to the EFCC for prosecution.
He explained that the role of the NDLEA ended at this point.
Giade said, “We normally send our returns with a covering letters and the case files, which are stamped ‘received’ and we keep our copies.”
He gave the breakdown of the cases as follows: 2006 (12); 2007 (14); 2008 (21); 2009 (12); 2010 (3); 2011 (4); and January 2013 to date (1).
However, the EFCC’s Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, failed to turn up at the sitting of the committee on Monday.
He wrote the committee, saying he would not be available, a decision that members of the committee frowned on.
Speaking for the committee, Jagaba said Lamorde was taking lawmakers for a ride and did not seem to appreciate the importance of the investigation.
The committee summoned Lamorde to appear before it unfailingly on Wednesday (tomorrow).
His predecessors, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu and Mrs. Farida Waziri, also shunned the committee’s sitting.
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