Fresh facts have emerged on the over 40 vehicles said to have been recovered from Godknows Igali, a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The fresh facts indicate that the vehicles were acquired through a bank loan.
The vehicles were to be used for the reelection of former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election.
The loan was reportedly taken from a new generation bank.
Some of the vehicles were also said to have been donated by individuals and organisations, while Jonathan’s party, the Peoples Democratic Party, also bought some.
It was further gathered that some of the vehicles that came into the campaign pool as donations or purchased with party funds had already been distributed or returned to the owners, while the vehicles recovered from Igali remained in his with a view to selling them to offset part of the loan.
The loan of N1.8 billion was obtained on November 20, 2014 for the purchase of “luxury vehicles for VIP use”, with an extended repayment plan beginning from December 2016.
Checks revealed that the bank released the loan in five tranches in line with the time invoices were provided by the suppliers.
A senior manager of the bank confirmed the procurement of the loan by Igali.
He said the bank had also made statements to the EFCC on the vehicles as far back as September 2016, with all the evidences concerning the transactions made available to the anti-graft agency.
The official, who pleaded anonymity because he was not officially permitted to speak, said the loan processes followed all legitimate procedures, stressing that no default has been recorded yet since the repayment was billed to start in December 2016.
A high ranking member of the PDP, High Chief Abel Odoko, wondered why the EFCC would chose to opt for a “sensational media trial on a matter that was concluded many months ago”.
Odoko, who said he was very conversant with the case, debunked the claim that “the sum of N1.5 billion with which the vehicles were acquired was allegedly sourced from the diverted N27 billion insurance premium of deceased workers of Power Holding Company of Nigeria”.
He said: “First, it was that the former Permanent Secretary took 40 government SUVs for himself.
“After 24 hours, it’s 45 or 47 and he bought them for Jonathan/Sambo Campaign.
“First, vehicles were parked in his house.
“Now, they are parked in a yard.
“If investigators are credible, why so much ‘confidential sources’ leaking out so much?
“Why the sudden massive media hype if it’s not sponsored witch hunting?
“Why always drag in the name of GEJ into everything negative?”
Odoko wondered why despite the disclosure by the bank, from which the loan was taken, the government was silent on the transactions.
He said: “Why are government officials silent on the fact that a loan was obtained and rather quoting other sources?
“Is the intention to scandalise specific people for whatever reasons and achieve cheap political objectives?
“Is it professional practice in investigations of this type to be releasing findings in bits without conclusions?
“Why has the Minister of Information suddenly become spokesman for EFCC?”
According to Odoko, the EFCC came into the matter only after it discovered that Baseworth Insurance Brokers, a company the anti-graft agency had been investigating, had also contributed N300 million to the said loan, which was co-ordinated by the new generation bank.
He said: “It was only then that the agency insisted on recovering the money by taking possession of the vehicles, to which no one objected.”
Odoko said this was the settlement reached with the anti-graft agency about four months ago “only for contrived stories scandalizing our party and former President Goodluck Jonathan and people close to him to resurface in the media days before the new year.”
He added that the claim of a pending trial of Igali was borne out of mischief, adding: “It does not arise because it has been clearly established that the vehicles were purchased with a bank loan.
“If EFCC is investigating any other matter, our party is not against it as long as due process and fairness is followed.
“The PDP as a party is not against President Buhari’s fight against corruption war.
“The PDP government believes in curtailing the scourge of corruption in the country.
“That is why the government established the ICPC and the EFCC.
“We are fully in support of the anti-corruption war, but it must be done in line with the principle of equity and without victimisation.”
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