Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC on
Saturday January 30th, stormed the Abuja office of former Vice President
Namadi Sambo, ransacked it for documents and also seized $50,000.
According to a report by
The Nation,
the anti-graft agency may have ransacked his office over an alleged N20
million monthly subvention he received from the Office of the National
Security Adviser (ONSA) while he was Vice President.
It was learnt that the search was informed by the unusual movement of
hefty bags into the office of Sambo’s Manyatha Company on Saturday.
EFCC sources say the relocation of the suspicious bags from Sambo's home
to the office made the agency act swiftly.
One of the EFCC sources said
"The ongoing investigation of $2.1 billion arms cash under ex-NSA Sambo
Dasuki has been extended to the former VP. The search started on
Saturday till the early hours of Monday. Apart from getting N20 million
monthly from ONSA, we got tip-off on movement of some bags loaded with
hard currency. All we did was to investigate this clue by searching the
ex-VP’s office in a cautious manner and in the full glare of the
employees. At the appropriate time, we will inform the public of our
findings. We are also looking at the circumstances behind the N20
million grant allocated to the ex-VP’s office by the ONSA. Ordinarily, a
sitting VP has a budget for his office. It is like subjugating your
office to a junior public officer if you have to be taking N20 million
from the Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA). We cannot be blind
to this important aspect of monthly grant to a VP by the former security
adviser. Some former presidential aides are also under investigation.”
A source close to the former Vice President confirmed the search of the office in Abuja’s Central Business District (CBD).
“The EFCC operatives invaded the Manyatha Company of the former Vice
President on Saturday, broke the doors. The operatives did not come with
any warrant and when they left, there was no record of inventories.
What happened was that the ex-VP moved some documents in Ghana-Must-Go
bags from his house to the office in the Central Business District. I
think they got false alarm that dollars were stuffed in the bags and
decided to raid the office on the sixth floor. We share the same office
complex with the British Visa Section. Do you know that since Saturday,
the policemen brought by the EFCC are still in the office? The EFCC
asked the company to repair its doors before the police could leave the
place.”
On the alleged N20 million collected monthly from ONSA, the source added:
“It is a statutory subvention for the Office of the Vice President. When
ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was VP, he was getting it. The same
subvention was given to ex-VP Atiku Abubakar. Ex-VP Sambo is ready to
defend the subvention when necessary. He did not steal public funds and
he did not get campaign funds from ONSA.”
