Memo implicates EFCC, ICPC officials in pension scam

This could be taken as the most serious infiltration of the nation’s anti-graft agencies since their establishment. Documents made available to our reporters indicate the agencies - the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) officials were first compromised by the office of the head of service and later put in the pension biometric bogus payout list. This revelation of corruption inside the most sensitive anti-sleaze agencies, which had earlier drawn criticisms at the public hearing by the Senate committee on establishment, is a major blow to the country’s anti-corruption campaign.

The documents describe how anti-corruption agencies personnel became beneficiaries of various payments for the biometric capturing exercises at the Police Pensions Office, at the instance of the Head of Service of the Federation. For instance
, EFCC personnel were paid N15,477,900 in addition to several other payments in the guise of Duty Tour Allowance by the Pension Task Force for Biometric Data capturing exercise of police retirees in the Diaspora, which the Auditor-General of the Federation has described as a fraud.

 People familiar with the operations of the task force said the payments were made to the EFCC personnel, to turn them into tools for the harassment of those opposed to the diversion of pension funds. In one of the documents, Stephen Oronsaye, the former Head of Service, on 7 September, 2010, approved a memo for the payment of N980,000 to three EFCC personnel. The beneficiaries are Idris Sule on GL.16 who was paid N420,000 through his Unity Bank account number 326-1727957, Fatima Yakubu on GL.10 collected N280,000 through her Skye Bank account number 1381010009542 and Elizabeth Oyeneyin on GL.9 who also collected N280,000 through her UBA account number 00880250006157.

The memo was titled ‘list of EFCC officers for the verification exercise whose names were omitted from the payment schedules prepared by Ayo Otepola, director in the office of the Head of Service of the Federation’, and jointly signed by G. Tahir and P.U Chidi. It read:

 “HCSF may wish to be informed that the names of the three EFCC officers were erroneously left out of the payment mandate earlier approved by the HCSF as per diem for the verification exercise being carried out in the OHCSF by officials of the EFCC”. Another document referenced CB.3380/EFCC/DOPS/VOL.1/64, dated 21 February 2011 and signed by Ibrahim Lamorde, the current chairman of the EFCC, sent to the Head of Service and calling the attention of A.A Maina, also nominated officers for the biometric capturing exercise for Nigerian pensioners in the Diaspora.

“I am directed to acknowledge receipt of your letter HCSF/875/1 dated February 7, 2011 on the above subject and append hereunder list of officers nominated for the exercise”, said Lamorde, in the letter signed on behalf of Farida Waziri, ex-chairman of the agency. The officers nominated were Polycarp Ibeh on GL.12 who had his allowance paid into First Bank account number 2532010061597, Zainab Bello Tifi on GL.10 and who collected her allowance through Zenith Bank account number 401203741 and Boma Abaku on GL.10 whose allowance was paid into GT Bank account number 329330171590. Polycarp Ibeh’s name also featured on the list of those who collected money but did not go for the offshore biometric capture of police retirees in the Diaspora. Personnel from the EFCC and ICPC were also drafted to supervise biometric data capturing of police retirees across the federation and in the Diaspora.

However, the police biometric capturing exercise had been faulted in its etirety by the Auditor-General of the Federation in a March 2012 audit report which observed that it was needless and added no value to the Federal Government. Members of the Senate Committee on Establishment which sat on the public hearing on pension, also wondered why the agencies were involved in the exercise when the Nigeria Police could have provided security and maintained law and order during the exercise nationwide, at no cost. EFCC personnel listed as collecting money include Muktar Suleiman, Nura Hanga, Daniel Alozie, Simon H Laarzoh, and Amidu Oba. Others are Tony Evtotokhai, Mohammed Goji, Afegbua Hadiza, Wguwan Kakwa, Mohamnmed Kawu, David Kolo, Adeyemi Akinyemi and Kassim Yusuf.

 The memo to effect the payment originated on August 8, 2011 from J.Y Yusuf, an Assistant Director, Accounts and was approved same day by Abdulrasheed Maina, the Chairman. The memo entitled “DTA for Officers on Biometric Data Capturing at Various Zones of the Federation” reads; “find attached the details of officers constituted by the Pension Task force team assigned to supervise the zonal centres for the biometric data capturing of all retirees. The sum of N15,477,900 being DTA, air tic
kets, and other related allowances for the officers is recommended for your kind approval”. Source:businessdayonline