Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission says a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, is still under investigation.
The spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said this during an interview with our correspondent on Friday.
Responding to a question on when the former SGF would be charged to court, he said, “All I can say is that investigations are still ongoing.”
There were reports, particularly on the social media recently, that the EFCC was no longer taking up Babachir’s case and that he was recently spotted at the colloquium organised by the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in Lagos.
Babachir, who was sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari last year, had been arrested by the anti-graft agency in January but was released three days later after his passport was seized.
Among several other allegations, the former SGF awarded N223m consultancy contract for the removal of invasive plant species in Komadugu, Yobe Water Channels to his firm, Rholavision Engineering Limited.
He allegedly contravened the provision of Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended); the Public Procurement Act 2007; and breached the oath of office as the SGF.
Two separate committees headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and the Senate Ad hoc Committee had last year recommended the prosecution of all those involved in the alleged contract scam in the Presidential Initiative in the North-East headed by Babchir.
Apart from allegedly awarding a contract to his company, the former SGF also reportedly received kickbacks from Presidential Initiative on the North East’s contractors, according to a Senate report.
Between March 29, 2016, and April 20, 2016, Josmon Technologies Limited allegedly transferred N317m to Rholavision after receiving two “grass-cutting” contracts worth N530.6m for the removal of invasive plant species in Yobe State, according to the Senate report.
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