MORE cash believed to be part of the
London-Paris Club loan refund has been
found by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC).
The US$86,546,526.65 was remitted into the
account of the Nigerian Governors Forum
(NGF).
The account is said to have been depleted
to about $17million as at the time the probe
started.
The EFCC is probing how the cash got into
the account, who remitted it and for what
purpose.
“The cash was paid into the forum’s
domiciliary account in GTB tagged:
0023577047 with sort code 058083215,” the
source said, adding that the payment
followed a November 21, 2016 memo on the
remittance into the NGF’s account which
was titled “Consultants fee”.
The cash was described as consultancy and
legal fees as the case with the N19 billion
which was allegedly diverted from the
refund.
“This development has justified the earlier
peg of our investigation that the part of the
London-Paris Club loan refunds was paid
into two accounts of the NGF” the source
said, pleading not to be named because he
has no authority to talk to the media.
“Operatives are tracking how the $86.5m
was used and for what purpose. We want to
know whether the affected financial and
legal consultants exist or not.”
The Nation had exclusively reported that the
Presidency was uncomfortable with how
some governors managed the refund.
The Federal Government released N522.74
billion to 35 states as refund of over-
deductions on London-Paris Club loans.
President Muhammadu Buhari directed the
release of the refund to enable states to pay
salaries and pensions.
But more than N19billion of the refund has
been enmeshed in controversy over payment
of consultancy fees. Some consultants were
yet to be paid as at press time.
Some of the infractions noticeable in the
management of the first tranche of the
London-Paris Club loan refund are:
computation of state records done at a
private home in Maitama, Abuja;accounts
initially opened in the names of two lead
consultants but the details of who to be paid
were later changed;N19b remitted into two
NGF accounts;
commission to consultants cut from 10% to
2% but 5% was on paper as paid;the CBN
paid directly to each state without the
knowledge of the Accountant-General of the
Federation; and
part of the N19b commission was traced to
a governor’s account and some individuals,
including some members of the National
Assembly.
It was also discovered that besides the
central consultants, governors hired other
consultants, with some conceding about
10-20% commission to them.
In some states, governors served as
consultants through proxies.
Some consultants are yet to be paid
because the NGF changed the commission
formula as soon as the first tranche was
remitted, The Nation learnt.
Besides, some governors deviated from
using 25 per cent to 50 per cent for
payment of outstanding salaries and pension
as agreed with President Buhari.
The Nation
*Thieves!!!
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