EFCC still after Kalu over alleged N7.1bn fraud – Bawa

Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, clarified this while appearing on the weekly Ministerial Briefing by the Presidential Communication Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Bawa, who elaborated on the operations and achievements of the anti-corruption agency so far under his watch, also said the Commission had recovered more than N30 billion from the suspended Accountant-General of the Federation, Idris Ahmed.

Kalu had sought an Abuja Federal High Court’s order to bar the EFCC to retry him, arguing that a Supreme Court decision which ordered a retrial of the fraud case did not include him as a party in the retrial.

The court granted Kalu’s plea, ordering the anti-graft agency to exclude him from the retrial of a case for which he had been tried and convicted.

However, responding to a question during the briefing, Bawa said the former Aboa Governor has not been discharged or acquitted, adding that the EFCC was still pursuing the matter against him.

“My friend here asked about Senator Orji Uzor Kalu. The prosecution lasted for 12 years or so and he was convicted by the court. He went to the Supreme Court and the court said yes because he was elevated to the Court of Appeal, it cannot come back to the lower court and that he should be retried in Lagos.

“So we wanted to arraign him almost immediately in Lagos for the prosecution to start all over again and then he went to court, challenging that he has been discharged and acquitted and nobody discharged and acquitted him and we are still pursuing the matters in court here in Abuja. So the matter is still ongoing,” he affirmed..

He confirmed that not less than N30 billion has been retrieved from the suspended AGF, Ahmed.

The Commission is prosecuting him over alleged N109 billion fraud.

Giving highlights of the achievements of the anti-graft body from January to December, 2022, he gave other recoveries as N134,33,759,574.25, $121,769,076.30, £21,020.00, €156,925.00, ¥21,350.00, CFA300,000.00 among others.

He also revealed that over 3,615 convictions were recorded within the period, affirming that the administration is serious about its anti-corruption programme.

The EFCC boss announced that following the nationwide auction of forfeited automobiles, it will be followed by the disposal of over 150 houses to interested buyers.

Bawa assured that by the time the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCMUL) becomes fully operational, it will be difficult for money to be laundered in the country.