Governor Joshua Chibi Dariye may be arraigned at the Federal High Court in Kaduna today along with two senior offic-ials of the Plateau State government, and six bank officials who are alleged to have aided and abetted the looting and diversion of public funds to the tune of N1,161,162,900 billion.
This, according to the executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Malam Nuhu Ribadu, is in spite of the constitutional immunity from arrest and trial enjoyed by the governor.
Ribadu told newsmen in a news conference in Abuja yesterday that the EFCC was in the process of filing the case at the Kaduna High Court, not unaware of the “nebulous constitutional pr-ovision of immunity clause.
“In fact, we are challe-nging this provision in court because we strongly believe it is against the principles and spirit of the constitution.
“We are challenging the clause because we have esta-blished a case against Dar-iye. We have no other place to go but the court, we have very good arguments to proffer before the court that it is not going to be easy fighting corruption if people are diverting public money to their personal use. That constitution is wrong, it is not fit to be part of our laws, and we will fight to exclude corruption from the immunity clause,” he said.
The EFCC boss explained that the case against Dariye was being pursued with every seriousness because of its sensitivity to the nation’s image, since the case was referred to the EFCC by the British authorities after arresting Dariye with huge sums of money.
“It is in the course of our investigation that we made startling discoveries on how the Plateau State government treasury was butchered to the tune of the amount. It is based on these findings that we are taking the accused persons to court to account for their crimes,” he said.
Ribadu further pointed out that the N1,161,162,900.00 is just part of the over one million pou-nds allegedly siphoned from the Plateau State government coffers, adding that the case today is just the beginning of several of such on the way, while efforts would be made to recover the money which is presently in the United Kingdom.
Malam Ribadu also warned public officials who steal and loot the treasury that their days are numbered, as the EFCC has now focu-sed its searchlight on treasury looters no matter how big they are.
“As said many times bef-ore, we in EFCC do not discriminate, a thief is a thief, a criminal is a criminal no matter the type of his tribal marks, religion or gender. We do not discriminate on the size of office you either presently occupy or occupied before. All we know is EFCC simple; No one is above the law!” he warned.
He also warned bank officials that collude with public officials to loot public treasuries that the EFCC would not spare anybody that either by acts of omission or commission contributed to the stealing of government money.
“Bank officials are therefore strongly warned to desist from participating in the bleeding of Nigeria,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Plateau Peace Movement for the Sustenance of Democracy (PPMSD) has threatened to initiate the recall of the prinipal officers of the State House of Assembly, unless the lawmakers investigate the allegations of financial impropriety against Governor Joshua Dariye.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, leader of the group, Mr Solomon Selcap Dalung said if the state legislature fails to probe the misdeeds of the governor by commencing impeachment proceedings against him, then the group would champion the recall of the principal officers of the state assembly.
Already, Mr Dalung said a seven-point petition has been sent to the assembly by the group, containing details of Governor Dariye’s financial mismanagement inclu-ding money laundering charges, transfer of large amounts into foreign bank accounts, the maintenance of two accounts in a London bank and his lackadaisical attitude to state security.
“The House of Assembly should investigate Dariye and if found guilty, he should be impeached. If the assembly fails to discharge its constitutional responsibility of investigating the governor, we have the constitutional responsibility to recall the principal officers and we would mobilise the people to support their recall.
“If he is investigated and cleared by the House of Assembly, we will support him but anything short of probing him will be unacceptable.
“The allegations should be investigated, even if the Plateau people decide later to forgive him of his misdeeds because he is their son, and not for the legislature to sweep the issues under the carpet,” Mr Dalung stated. |
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