Some gory details of sleaze, which make good storylines for Nigeria’s Nollywood industry, have exposed how just two former senior civil servants returned close to N8billion to the Government from what they stole while in office.
At the current official exchange rate of about 394 naira to a dollar, this amount is roughly equivalent to $20.3m; at the time the money was stolen, it was worth about $40 million at an exchange rate of about 197 naira to the dollar.
Their purpose for the refund was to escape being prosecuted, which is now the subject of their prayers to the court.
The two former super-government employees, are a former Accountant-General of the Federation (AG-F), Jonah Ogunniyi Otunla, and an ex-Comptroller-General of Customs, Abdullahi Inde Dikko, refunded N6.3 billion and N1.9 billion respectively, records have shown.
Otunla served as the AG-F between 2011 and 2015 while Dikko was the Customs’ Comptroller General between 2009 and 2015.
The details of events that precipitated the refunds are part of documents that the former officers of the federation submitted to in court in their suits against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).
The figures show that Otunla returned N6,392,000,000.00; Dikko returned N1,596,000,000.00.
The former senior officials in their suit, are challenging the decision of the agencies to insist on prosecuting them on corruption charges after they were told to make refunds in lieu of prosecution.
According to Otunla, the suspended acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, had promised that should he return funds traced to him, companies linked to him, and his associates, he would not be prosecuted.
He stated that sometime in 2015, he was invited by a team of EFCC investigators,that was probing alleged diversion of funds from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) pension funds.
Otunla said he met with Magu in the course of the investigation, when the then acting EFCC chair told him to “refund the monies linked to your companies and nobody will prosecute you.”
He said based on Magu’s promise, he had a reconciliatory meeting with the investigator, where he immediately undertook to make available some funds as refunds.
In line with the agreement, Otunla said one of the companies linked to him – Stellar Vera Development Ltd – refunded N750m; another company – Damaris Mode Coolture Ltd – refunded N550m, while the two firms later made an additional joint refund of N2,150,000,000.00.
He added that, at a point, he raised several bank cheques for N10m in favour of the EFCC which he handed to its Economic Governance Section.
Otunla said in all he made a refund of N6,392,000,000.00 to the Federation Account through the EFCC.
Otunla is asking the court, in the suit he filed against the EFCC, to, among others, hold that in view of the assurance given to him by Magu, which informed his refund of the money, he could no longer be prosecuted for his actions while in office.
Dikko, said he entered an agreement with the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami “to return $8m or its equivalent in naira atN197 to a dollar.”
As one of the court documents shows, Dikko explained that shortly after he retired, he entered into an agreement on May 25, 2016 with the AGF and the Director General of the State Security Service.
The ex-Customs boss said he met with the two Federal Government’s representatives at the International Hotel, Park lane, Mayfair, London, during which Malami directed him “to return $8m or its equivalent in naira, at N197 to a dollar so as to prevent the Federal Government of Nigeria from prosecuting me.
According to Dikko, he complied fully with the directive of the AGF by paying the money in its naira equivalent.
Recently, Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja, in a ruling agreed with Dikko that he could no longer be prosecuted by the ICPC in view of the agreement with the AGF.
Justice Mohammed cited an earlier decision by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba (also of the Federal High Court, Abuja) in the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/587/2018 in which Justice Dimgba had found that in view of the agreement with the AGF, Dikko could no longer be prosecuted by the EFCC and any other federal prosecuting agency in relation to his activities while in office.