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Fayose Faults NIA Claim On Ownership Of N13b Found in Lagos

Published

7 years ago

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John Abiodun, Ado Ekiti
Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has said claims by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) that the N13 billion cash just discovered at Osborne Towers, Lagos belongs to the agency is nothing but a cover-up.
The governor said that the development has only succeeded in rubbishing the Federal Government’s anti-corruption war.
Fayose said: “Yesterday, it was made public that NIA claimed ownership of the $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23, 218,000 seized on Wednesday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from Osborne Towers, a luxury residential complex in Ikoyi, Lagos.
“This, to my mind is one cover-up too many and this Federal Government seeming plot to protect the original owner of both the money and the apartment where it was found has further shown that the anti-corruption fight is political, selective and therefore a ruse.
The governor advised the Federal Government to operate with the mind-set that Nigerians are not fools, saying Nigerians are already asking questions including: “Who is the owner of the apartment in which the money was found? Does the apartment also belong to the NIA?, If the apartment belongs to the NIA, when was it bought and from who? If the apartment does not belong to the NIA, from whom and when was it rented?
“How could a whistle-blower be aware of movement of money into one out of many apartments in a building without knowing the owner of the apartment? If truly the NIA was carrying out a “covert operation” as claimed, was President Muhammadu Buhari not briefed of the so-called “covert operation” when he took over power? Was the National Security Adviser (NSA), whose office controls all intelligence agencies, including the EFCC and DSS not aware of the “covert operation?
“Was there any security presence at the vicinity of the apartment to suggest that it was being used as warehouse for over N13 billion cash belonging to the NIA? Does NIA need an unprotected apartment to keep such huge sum of money purportedly meant for “covert operation? How much was released for the so-called “covert operation”? And how much has been spent and to who was account rendered up to date?
“As for me, the script being acted on this discovered cash is a cover-up that will mar the EFCC and the Federal Government. It is case of a dog that has been eating other people’s children to the admiration of its owner suddenly attacking the beloved son of the owner’s friend and they are now trying to cover-up the dog owner.
“It is a major test of the integrity of the APC Federal Government’s so-called anti-corruption fight, and the earlier the proponents of the cover-up plot come back to their normal senses and tell Nigerians who owns the apartment in which the money was found, the better for them,” Fayose said.
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