House of Reps probes missing $202m unaccounted for by agency

This was disclosed by the House Committee on Public Safety and National Intelligence which had been tasked with investigating the movement of the sum of $44 million from the vault of the agency around the time President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Ahmed Abubakar as the agency's new Director General.

According to the Chairman of the committee, Aminu Jaji, the $44 million must have been safely kept in an undisclosed location, pending the resolution of the issues surrounding the agency's change of leadership.

Jaji went further to say that the money in question is part of a $289 million intervention fund released to the agency in the closing days of former president, Goodluck Jonathan's tenure.

He said the $44 million, as well as another $43 million controversially claimed by the agency's former DG, Ayodele Oke after it was discovered in a Lagos apartment, is the only part of the fund accounted for.

He disclosed that the committee will intensify its investigation into how the rest of the $289 million, which is $202 million, was spent.

He said, "This $44 million is part of the $289 million approved to the then DG, Ayodele Oke. In April last year, there was the issue of $43 million found in Ikoyi. He tried to say that the $44 million and the $43 million were part of the $289 million.

"But for us, we are still working to see where the remaining $202 million was placed. We only know about the $43 million recovered in Ikoyi and the $44 million recovered from their vault.

"In the course of our investigation, we'll come up with where the $289 million really is, not only the $43 million and not the $44 million.

"NIA got the money in the name of intervention. But since they said it was an intervention, maybe for whatever reason, Oke failed to disclose the amount to the present administration.

"Even the NSA was saying it was when this committee started working that he got to know that NIA was given $289 million.

"For me, $202 million is still missing. The money in question is $289m, and all what the former DG is trying to say is that the $43 million and the $44 million are part of the $289 million.

"If you subtract $43 million and $44 million, where is the balance? That’s why we have to intensify the investigation."

Abubakar's appointment followed due process

Jaji had briefed journalists about the state of the committee's investigation after a closed-door meeting with the agency's new DG, Abubakar, and National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno.

Abubakar's appointment has been trailed by controversy amid questions of the $44 million that was moved, and rumours about his eligibility.

Jaji put those concerns to rest by assuring the public that Abubakar was appointed in line with due process.

He said, "We tried to find out from the DG and some staff working in the agency, and there was no protest. For me, it's just something anonymous.

"The circumstances surrounding his appointment were discussed. Some are saying he has dual citizenship, but he said to us categorically that his father was from Katsina and he (his father) after sometime decided to migrate from Katsina to Chad. His mother is a Nigerian, and his wife too is a Nigerian."

History of Ikoyi loot

A raid by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Flat 7B, No. 16, Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos on April 12, 2017 led to the discovery of $43.5 million, £27,800 and N23.2 million.

A lot of controversy trailed the discovery of the loot, with public outcry, especially on social media, demanding that the culprits be brought to book.

The loot was initially claimed to belong to the NIA whenOke said that the amount in the apartment was marked for covert operations.

After President Buhari suspended Oke and set up a three-man panel headed by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, to properly investigate the matter, he was sacked on October 30, 2017.

The loot has also been linked former to Rivers State governor and current Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Adamu Mu'azu; senator representing Lagos west, Solomon Adeola; and an ex-managing director of Petroleum Products Pricing and Marketing Company (PPMC), Esther Nnamdi-Obue.

On June 6, JusticeSule Hassan of a Federal High Court division in Lagos ordered the final forfeiture of the monies recovered to the Federal Government.