Paris Club Probe: Governors prepare for showdown with EFCC

Governors of the 36 states of the federation, under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum on Thursday said it was ready for a showdown with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigating a possible diversion of the refund made to states from the excess charges of Paris Club.
Emerging from a closed-door meeting that lasted into the early hours of Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said they would await the report of the anti-graft agency’s investigation.
The Presidency had ordered an investigation into the disbursement of the Paris Club refunds made to states, after reports emerged that the governors’ forum may have engaged some imaginary consultants to divert the money.
Presidency sources confirmed that the Federal Government was worried that its efforts towards the settlement of pension and salaries arrears owed workers in the states were being sabotaged by the possible diversion of the funds and had decide to get to carryout a full-scale investigation.
Reports had also indicated that the governors were spoiling for war with the acting chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, over the decision to probe the alleged diversion. Reports, which also fingered the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, over the abuse of the funds, indicated that the EFCC might have also quizzed the director-general of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Asishana Okauru, over the matter.
However, fielding question from journalists at the State House after the meeting, the chairman of the NGF and Zamfara state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, said the governors were ready for the EFCC probe.
“We discussed the issue of Paris Club and London Club. We observed that EFCC said it is doing investigations. Yeah, we support the Federal Government for fighting corruption.
“We are waiting for the EFCC to come up with what they say is the investigation and come up with the result,” he told journalists.
The governors are said to be fighting back over what they claimed was the unnecessary harassment of its members and officials of the NGF.
But the EFCC itself has denied indicting the 36 state governors and Senate president for the alleged diversion of the Paris loan refund.
A media report had alleged that the governors’ forum championed a 5 percent deduction of the funds paid to the states whereby some governors got about N400 million while Saraki got N2.5 billion.
According to the report, the EFCC was said to have been informed by Okauru that he transferred money to individual governors through the NGF, though he failed to write an official statement to this effect.
The EFCC in apparent response to the investigation had said though it was investigating the reimbursement paid to the states, it was yet to indict anyone and would make public its results as at when due.