Barrister Okoi Obono-Obla, appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari as Chairman of the Special Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, has revealed that several high-level corruption investigations were thwarted by influential figures in the previous administration.
Obono-Obla, who was dismissed in September 2019 just a few months after his appointment, spoke in an interview with Vanguard.
He alleged that powerful members of the government, whom he described as patrons of corruption, forced him out for probing high-ranking cronies.
“The patrons of corruption in Nigeria, in collusion with fifth columnists in the previous regime, were not at ease with my patriotic zeal, courage, resolute, strong character, and uncompromising approach to my schedule and decided to push me out by all means,” he stated.
He claimed that the former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), instructed him to wait for a mandate before investigating any matter.
“It started as far back as January 2018 when I was served a letter from the former Attorney General of the Federation directing me what I should not do, including waiting for a mandate before I could investigate any matter.
I was also stopped from talking to the media. It doesn’t need clairvoyance to tell one that all was not well when you are directed to wait for a mandate before you investigate cases of financial crime, economic sabotage, or grand corruption.”
Obono-Obla further alleged that his refusal to follow these directives led to the suspension of the investigation panel he headed.
“However, I disregarded the directives because they were illegal as the law that created the panel had explicitly spelled out the powers of the panel.
Then again, on January 31, 2019, I received another letter saying that since I had refused to adhere, I should only investigate cases selectively given to me by the powers that be. The panel is suspended until further notice.”
He continued his work until August 11, 2019, when he was suspended, and the panel was disbanded in September 2019.
Obono-Obla also disclosed that he was investigating significant cases, including a $7 billion bailout given to banks that had not been repaid.
“I was investigating some dangerous cases that had remained a no-go area for a long time.
Some of them included the $7 billion that was given to banks as bailouts since 2016, which they had refused to pay back; investigating the report of the Judicial Commission into how Nigeria Airways was bankrupted but which report was left to gather dust in government shelves, the failure of oil companies to pay to the federal government royalties and other rental fees amounting to more than $3 billion, to mention just a few,” he noted.
Tags
local