The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday declared that the immediate past Governor of Enugu State, Barr. Sullivan Chime is still being investigated.
The former Governor, who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, has been a visitor to the Enugu zonal office of the EFCC, over the sum of N450m campaign funds allegedly collected from former petroleum minister, Dieziani Alison Madueke.
Briefing journalists at the Enugu Press Centre, the South-East Head of the anti-graft agency, Mr. Johnson Babalola, said that Chime was far from being free from their hook.
Babalola explained that Rita Mba, who was also fingered alongside Chime and some others, was also under investigation.
Mba had in a petition to the EFCC boss, Ibrahim Magu, accused Babalola of compromising the case against Chime.
But Babalola said,
“Chime is still under investigation. Criminal cases don’t have expiry date. The case is still not closed.
“Rita has the right to allege that we have compromised; we are operating democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of expression I want to tell you that she too is still under investigation and I don’t want to say more than that about the case. She is still under investigation and we are making progress.”
He further stated that apart from Chime, another former governor in the South-East was also under investigation for allegedly putting state fund into bond to the tune of over N4b.
While stating that the commission was making progress despite challenges, Babalola declared that Magu was innocent of all the allegations against him by the Department of State Services, DSS, for which the Senate turned down his confirmation.
“He is innocent; he is a very clean man; the DSS is wrong.
“The main thing in Nigeria is corruption and insecurity. The powers that be are against my oga. He has nothing in his cupboard and they cannot stop him from carrying out investigation”, he maintained.
He also lamented that the EFCC was hamstrung financially in carrying out their onerous task because the very people at the receiving end of the fight were holding the purse, thereby making it difficult for them to execute their jobs.
“We are handicapped financially for the work because the people we are fighting are still the same people that will approve our funds,” Babalola lamented.
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