EFCC set to probe Jonathan’s ministers, aides

Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde (Chairman, EFCC)

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has concluded plans to commence the probe of the former President Goodluck Jonathan with investigations into the financial transactions of his ministers and aides.

The Chairman of the commission, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, had already directed that all petitions against former public officers at the federal level should be forwarded to him to be acted upon.

Findings showed that former ministers, special advisers, heads of parastatals and those of other Federal Government agencies would be invited for interrogation by the EFCC in few weeks from now.

Such ministries and agencies, it was learnt, included defence, petroleum resources and power, whose establishments attracted huge allocations from the Federal Government when Jonathan was in power.

Reacting to the development, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Abdullahi Jalo, said the party was not afraid of a probe.

According to him, the party and former President Goodluck Jonathan have nothing to hide; saying all the party is asking for is that any probe must be within the ambit of the law.

Jalo said the PDP as a political party discharged its duty of providing leadership for Nigeria for 16 years and that it did so transparently.

He said, “I am sure Nigerians still remember that it was because of PDP’s desire to deal with the scourge of corruption that our government under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo established the EFCC and the ICPC. The records are there.”

“All we are asking for is that there must be fairness and justice, whatever probe they want to carry out must have respect for the rule of law, good conscience and the fear of God.”

“Such a probe must not be carried out based on vendetta or simply because somebody does not like the name or the face of somebody.”

Jalo also advised the All Progressives Congress-led administration to pay more attention to providing leadership to Nigeria, “rather than dissipating energy in the pursuit of trivialities.”