The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has detained the immediate
past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.), in
connection with his alleged role in the $2.1bn arms purchase scam.
Badeh, who was clad in a brown kaftan and a black cap, arrived at the EFCC office around 10am on Monday.
The
former defence chief had visited the commission on Thursday last week
but was asked to report to the agency’s office on Monday.
Badeh,
who was accompanied by three unidentified men, was escorted into the
Idiagbon House headquarters of the EFCC by armed operatives.
He was subsequently interrogated by detectives for several hours.
As of 10pm, Badeh was still in the custody of the anti-graft agency.
An EFCC operative, who confided in The PUNCH, said, “Badeh arrived at our office at 10am and as of 10pm, he is still with us.”
It
was gathered that the commission had assembled two teams of EFCC
operatives, who began the interrogation of the former chief of defence
staff at about 10.30am on Monday.
It was learnt that he was asked
to account for contracts awarded by the Nigeria Air Force when he was
the chief of defence staff.
According to reports, contracts totalling $930,500,690.00 were by the military awarded under the leadership of Badeh.
The
money is said to be part of the $2.1bn, which was under the control of
the Office of the National Security Adviser, then under the headship of
Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd).
Badeh is also said to be answering
questions on the non-specification of procurement costs, absence of
contract agreements, award of contracts beyond authorised thresholds,
transfer of public funds for unidentified purposes and general
non-adherence with provisions of the Public Procurement Act.
Meanwhile,
the EFCC has obtained repeated holding charge to keep a former Chief of
Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu (retd.), and some senior officers
of the NAF.
A top operative of the EFCC said on Monday that the
legal department of the commission had approached the court to obtain an
extension of the holding charge for Amosu and other military officers
in its custody.
It was learnt that the commission took the action
to avoid being accused of violating the law that stipulates that
suspects should not be detained for more than 48 hours.
The PUNCH
had, on Wednesday, exclusively reported that Amosu refused to sign an
undertaking that he would return some money or contract sums traced to
him.
According to the report, Amosu is being interrogated in connection with 10 contracts awarded by the Nigeria Air Force.
The
EFCC has been holding the former chief of air staff for two weeks after
he was arrested in relation to the ongoing probe into arms procured
under the Jonathan administration.
Amosu and some of the top
personnel of the Air Force were picked up on January 28, 2016, by the
EFCC to answer questions in connection with the arms probe.
It
was further gathered that the commission released some of the officers,
who were grilled in connection with the ongoing probe, on Friday.
It was learnt that the commission was still holding the former Air Chief because the investigation had not been concluded.
It
was gathered that the EFCC operatives had been dispatched to several
formations of the NAF in response to statements made by those being
probed.
The source added that the men of the task force, involved
in the ongoing probe, moved Amosu from Abuja to Lagos last week as part
of the efforts to confirm some of the claims he made.
Several officers are said to be in detention alongside Amosu for making statements which linked their activities to Badeh.
The
source added, “The commission has been making efforts to keep the
former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, and some of the
senior officers being interrogated in connection with the arms issue.
“The
legal department has been going to court to seek the extension of the
holding charge against Amosu and others, who have been in detention
since January 28, 2016. In fact, the department has obtained a holding
charge against the former chief of air staff.
“You know that
there is this provision in law that citizens should not be detained for
longer than 48 hours without a holding charge. The commission does not
want to run foul of that.
“However, some of the officers were
released on Friday. The ones that are being detained have made
statements linking them to Badeh’s interrogation.
“They are asked to wait because they have made statements that may need clarification when Badeh’s interrogation takes off.’’
The commission is believed to have several military personnel and civilians in detention in connection with the ongoing probe.
The
source said some of the detainees had spent over a month while others
had spent between two and three weeks in the detention facility of the
anti-corruption agency.
Among those detained are the military
assistant to the late Gen. Owoye Azazi; Dasuki, and an Austrian
businessman, Wolf Gang Reln.
Our correspondents could not get the
Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, to
comment on the story as calls to his mobile did not connect.
The
Media Adviser to the former finance minister, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, could
not be reached for comments on the scheduled probe of Okonjo-Iweala as
calls made to his mobile failed to connect.
Similarly, he had yet to respond to a text message sent to him as of the time of filing this report on Monday.
Source: http://www.punchng.com/arms-scam-efcc-detains-badeh-gets-order-to-hold-amosu/
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