EFCC explains why it wants finance director in ONSA to forfeit properties

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has disclosed the rationale behind its decision to get an interim forfeiture order, to seize eight landed properties allegedly belonging to the Director, Finance and Accounts in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), General Jafaru Mohammed.

The Commission said its resolution was triggered by a tipoff that a serving top military officer had acquired high-profile properties, and floated companies that owned similar assets.

Explaining in a document, filed before the Federal High Court, Abuja, the EFCC said upon preliminary findings by a special task force constituted in its Kano office to investigate the information, the team discovered that Gen. Mohammed, who joined the Nigerian Army in October 1993, could not have legitimately earned enough to acquire the properties allegedly linked to him.

On March 9, 2021, Justice Folashade Giwa-Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, granted an ex-parte application brought by the EFCC for an interim order of forfeiture over the identified property.

In her ruling, Justice Giwa-Ogunbanjo, said: “an order of interim forfeiture is made forfeiting to the Federal Government of Nigeria all the assets and properties listed in the schedule to this motion.”

The judge also ordered the EFCC to publicise the order of interim forfeiture to invite “any person(s) or body(ies) who may have interest in the assets and properties listed in the schedule to show cause within 14 days of such publication why a final order of forfeiture to the Federal Government of Nigeria should not be made.”

The affected properties include a house on plot no 7, Gods own Estate, Road, 1, Wamba District, Abuja; a fenced plot at No 1, Jubril Aminu Crescent, Katampe Extension Abuja, and a plot of land along Kubwa Express Road, directly opposite Abuja Model City Gate, Abuja.

Others are a house (Block SD 22 House 2, Road 5, Kabusa Garden Estate, Abuja; House No 15, 21 Crescent, 2% Avenue Gwarimpa Estate, Abuja; House No 3, Liverpool Close, Sun City Estate, Abuja; House No 532, Mainstreet, Sun City Estate Abuja, and House No 25, Osaka Street, Sun City Estate Abuja.

Meanwhile, in the document submitted to the court, the EFCC stated that. Gen Mohammed has earned not more than N73,402,644.29 since he was enlisted into the Nigerian Army in 1993, and could not have been able to legitimately acquire the properties.

The document read: “Upon receipt of the intelligence, investigation commenced in earnest whereby letters of investigation activities were written to Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Jaiz Bank Plc, GT Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Pic, Keystone Bank Plc and Unity Bank Plc, amongst others requesting for account opening packages and statement of accounts as well as the registration status of the companies listed.

“A team of operatives visited the properties to verify the existence as well as the location of the properties. The team interviewed General Jafaru Mohammed and recorded his statement regarding his source of wealth.

General Jafaru Mohammed is serving military personnel and currently the Director of Finance and Accounts in the Office of the National Security Adviser. Before his current posting, he served in the Finance and Accounts Departments of the Nigerian Defence Academy and National Defence College.

“The said Jafaru Mohammed admitted having and running many filing stations while being a public servant. Clearly, in view of the properties so far discovered, there is no way the legitimate earnings of Brigadier General Jafaru Mohammed could have funded the purchase of these properties.

“Brigadier General Jafaru owns two bureaus de change (BDC) companies, namely Ummatuhabibullah BDC Ltd and Tahir BB BDC with his wives and children as shareholders and signatories to the accounts of the companies.”
EFCC

Yabatech shut as College Director dies from COVID-19

The Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech) has been shut down with the students ordered to vacate their hostels by Thursday, January 28, following the death of the College’s Director, Academic Planning Unit, M.A.O Omoighe, from COVID-19 complications.

The College medical centre has also been shut down for two weeks while those who had direct contacts with the late Director were told to undergo COVID-19 test and proceed on self-isolation while the lecturers have been instructed to commence online lectures immediately.

The Academic Board of the institution, in a circular, said:

“The College should resort to online teaching immediately, for smooth lecturing, lecturers should provide lecture notes to students beforehand and utilise the online period for explanations of the lecture notes; lecturers are to adopt acceptable modality for the online lecturing.

The Centre for Information Technology and Management (CITM) and the Flexible Skill Development (FSD) should work out improved modalities to enhance e-learning in the college.

“Any meeting of more than 10 persons should be held virtually. Students should vacate the hotels latest Thursday, January 28, 2021. Management will make arrangements to decontaminate the college in due course. This will be done on weekends. Offices are to operate at half capacity.

“All administrative staff should come to the office on alternate days. Any staff that manifests malaria symptoms should self-isolate immediately for two weeks and go for COVID-19 test.

“The academic planning unit should be closed down for two weeks. All staff of the unit should go on isolation and carry out COVID-19 test. The unit should be de-decontaminated before reopening.

“The Medical Centre should be closed for two weeks and thereafter disinfected and staff that had direct contacts with the deceased should self-isolate and carry outCOVID-19 test.”

EFCC appoints director suspended by Magu as head of academy

The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mohammed Abba, has appointed one Ayo Olowonihi as the new commandant of the anti-graft agency’s academy.

Olowonihi, who is a director in EFCC, takes over from Itam Obono as head of the commission’s academy.

The EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, announced this in a statement on Monday.

The statement read: “The Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mohammed Abba, has appointed Detective Commander Ayo Olowonihi as Commandant, EFCC Academy, Karu, Abuja.

“Olowonihi takes over from Itam Obono, a Deputy Commissioner of Police

“The appointment which is with immediate effect was consummated with a hand-over ceremony today, Monday, January 18, 2021, attended by both Olowonihi and Obono with heads of departments and units of the Academy in attendance.”

“Obono charged staff to give Olowonihi the best cooperation, stating, ‘I’ll ask that, Ayo who is coming is not new. He has been here before and the work will take speed. Give him the best cooperation. The little hurdles that are there, you may be able to surmount faster than we have done.”

“In his response, Olowonihi appreciated Obono and wished him well at his new assignment. He pledged to take the Academy, which is the brain of the organisation, to where it should be.”

The new commandant was suspended by the former acting chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, in 2015.

He was later demoted from Grade Level 17 to Grade 16 in 2017.