The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, Ibrahim Magu’s remark on the Ikoyi whistle-blower being a millionaire has been explained by the Commission and countered by the lawyer of the whistleblowers as well as the whistleblowers themselves with many asking if the EFCC Boss needed to reveal so much in the first place.
Magu, who was in Vienna, Austria, for the 7th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, had said in a statement signed by the Spokesman of the Commission, Wilson Uwujaren, that the whistle-blower was already a millionaire by virtue of the percentage he was officially entitled to.
“We are currently working on the young man because this is just a man who has not seen one million naira of his own before.
“So, he is under counselling on how to make good use of the money and also the security implication.
“We don’t want anything bad to happen to him after taking delivery of his entitlement. He is a national pride” it read.
The EFCC Chairman also called on Nigerians to take advantage of the whistle-blowing policy announced by the Government, if they want a positive change in the Country.
EFCC has, however, come out to debunk the understanding spread by the media that the whistle-blower has been paid adding that the Commission is not directly responsible for the payment of reward to whistle-blowers. This came after series of exclusives by Premium Times refuted what the newspaper understood by Magu’s statement.
In a Statement signed by the Spokesman, Uwujaran, the EFCC claimed reports by the Media that Magu said the whistleblower has been paid his compensation is nothing but lies. The EFCC’s argument is that while Magu said the whistleblower is now a millionaire, he never said the money has been paid.
“What Magu said at the 7th Session of the Council of State Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in Vienna, Austria, was that citizens should be encouraged to embrace whistle-blowing because of the incentives attached.
“To illustrate this, he stated that the gentleman who provided the information that triggered the huge recovery at Osborne Towers in Ikoyi was already a millionaire based on the incentive in the whistle blower policy where information providers are entitled to between 2.5 and 5 % of the recovered sum.
“Magu never said that the young man had been paid. The Commission is not even directly responsible for the payment of rewards to whistle blowers. There is also no controversy about the exact amount recovered in the operation which was streamed live, the first of its kind, and witnessed by the whistle blower, security at the Towers and representative of the Agency which claimed ownership of the money.”
It is worthy of note that Magu said the commission does not want anything to happen to the Whistle Blower “after taking delivery of his entitlement”. This part of the statement suggests Magu meant the fellow is yet to receive his entitlement.
The lawyer to the whistle-blowers, Yakubu Galadima had voiced out that the whistle-blowers are three and not one as claimed by the Commission and are yet to receive their dues.
“In fact, what came to their mind was to go and burgle the place since they know the security network of the house,” said Mr. Galadima.
“I was the one that advised them that, you don’t do that because that will amount to crime. That since there is a policy of the federal government, let us exploit that avenue.
“I took them, we went to the Commission, discussed with them, they said they were going to give the boy a form to fill and that if the story turns out to be false that the guy will go to jail. We said no problem, we undertook and we signed.
Galadima wrote a letter to the President titled, “Request for payment of reward/commission due to whistleblowers who facilitated the recovery of sums of monies at No. 7B, Osborne Tower, Ikoyi, Lagos by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission” and dated October 10, 2017, to ensure that his clients get rewarded for their efforts.
“My clients, being aware that the aforesaid sums were discretely warehoused and concealed in the Ikoyi address approached me with a view to informing the Federal Government of Nigeria through the EFCC of the existence and location of the monies.
“Consequently, I facilitated a meeting between my clients and an official of the EFCC (Ahmed Ghali to be precise), which led to the monies being discovered and ultimately forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria, pursuant to a final forfeiture order of the Federal High Court made on 6th June 2017 and 24th July 2017 respectively.
“Enclosed herewith are duly acknowledged copies of the said letters for ease of reference. Please note that the discovery was as a direct result of my clients’ efforts and consequently, I respectfully urge Your Excellency to use your good offices to facilitate the prompt payment of the reward/commission due to my clients.
“This will go a long way in gaining the confidence of the citizens over the laudable whistle blowing policy. While counting on your avowed commitment to fighting corruption in Nigeria, please remain assured of my professional regards.”
He also claimed that his client was accused of having mental illness by the EFCC, which he said was false.
“Because the guy had always been looking forward to see(ing) this money and it wasn’t forthcoming, he started shouting. When he started shouting, they said he’s mad, that he’s having a mental problem.
“I said he’s not mad, that it’s because you people are holding his money that’s why he’s reacting this way. They insisted the guy is mad, that they have to take him to a psychiatric hospital, they bundled this man. I said ok, if that’s how to prove that he’s not mad, no problem, we went to the psychiatric hospital in Yaba.
“They injected him and said they have to monitor him for a month. They monitored him for a month. The day they were going to release him, the EFCC called me again to come and carry my “critical asset.” This was a boy I never knew from Adam….. I said ok, I went to the EFCC, the guy said he’s ok there’s no problem anymore, they handed him over to me three weeks ago. Ever since then, I pay money into his account on a weekly basis for his upkeep.”
Human Rights Lawyer, Chidi Odinkalu, also reacted to Magu’s Claim, saying it is verifiably false as the whistleblower has suffered serial detention in three different institutions, claiming that his life could be in danger.
The Federal Government adopted a policy in 2016 on whistleblowing to encourage citizens to report any illegal accumulation and storage of wealth.
The policy further outlined that anyone who disclosed information that leads to recovery of looted money will be compensated with five percent of the recovered money.
