The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde; the former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Hafiz Ringim; and a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi, were among those named as having partaken in the spending of the pension fund that was allegedly looted.
But Lamorde and Afolabi were quick to dispute the fact, saying they never touched the pension fund.
A document presented to the Senate Joint Committee on Establishment and Public Service and States and Local Government probing the handling of pension funds revealed that Lamorde was part of a team that spent N240 million on trips outside the country for the biometrics of pensioners who no longer live in Nigeria.
Lamorde, Afolabi and Ringim were among the 50 people listed to have travelled overseas to carry out biometrics on less that 20 pensioners.
The Chairman of the Senate committee, Senator Aloysius Etuk, who read the document, said Lamorde’s name was number 11 on the list.
He purportedly travelled to Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
Lamorde, however, denied the allegation, saying: “I never travelled out of Nigeria even though my name is on the list that will travel abroad for the biometric exercise. And even the account number on that list is not my account number because I do not operate an account with the mentioned bank (First Bank of Nigeria Plc).
Afolabi also denied the allegation.
In the document, Ringim was alleged to have demanded to be put on the trip.
He was not available to defend himself before the committee on Friday.
Another Chairman of the EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri, who was purportedly offered N4.3 billion out of the money, was said to have turned it down, saying she couldn’t partake in the spending of “blood money.”
On what became of the N21 billion recovered after the discovery that over N24 billion was taken for the payment of pensioners, which should have been N3.5 billion, the Head of the Pension Task Force, Abdulrasheed Maina, said the N21 billion recovered was lodged into two accounts in First bank of Nigeria Plc.
Maina said he took the action when he discovered that between N200 million and N300 million was being withdrawn from the account daily.
He was then directed to make available all the documents relating to the lodgement of the fund.