Ex-special investigator, Obono-Obla alleges Buhari govt returned recovered loots to looters

The former Chairman of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP), Okoi Obono-Obla, has alleged that the loot recovered under former President Muhammadu Buhari’ were ultimately returned to the looters.
Obono-Obla, who stated this during an interview with Nigerian journalist, Seun Okinbaloye on Mic On Podcast, said all his efforts to bring many looters to justice in the country were frustrated by the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and other officials of the Buhari administration.
He said: “Some of the things I recovered were returned to the looters.
“There was this case of someone from whom I recovered over 80 brand new X-class Mercedes Benz cars (armoured plated) from Jabi, Abuja.
“I wrote to the DG, Customs and the Federal Inland Revenue Services to ask if the person paid customs duties and tax on the vehicles; they said No.
“We got an order of interim forfeiture from the court pending the hearing of the case. So, I sent a memo to Malami to brief him on what we were doing, only for him to tell me that he never mandated me to do things I investigated.
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“Another one is the case of a senator who was then in his sitting status and later became the President of the Senate. I found his story in the Panama Papers, which stated that he had property in offshore islands; I didn’t have the power to investigate him because it was overseas, so I went to the DG, NIA, and sought his help to work together,” he said.
Obono-Obla also claimed that the anti-graft campaign under Buhari’ failed because of Malami and others’ influence.
“We didn’t do well. When Magu, the former EFCC chairman and I left, we didn’t hear anything again about fighting corruption. Both of us had a similar fate; we were stepping on toes and too stubborn. In fact, Malami’s close associate once told me, ‘you —Obla and Magu— are very stubborn.
“All the problems I had, Malami was behind them. The president wouldn’t have removed me without his input. He would joke to my wife if I had now recovered the billion dollars I wanted to recover from the firm that mailed me.
“I was not dismissed, I was suspended and till date, the suspension has not been lifted,” the former investigator added.

We recovered 80 S-class Mercedes Benz cars; some of the things I recovered were returned back to people we recovered those things from.Find out more via the link below:
You can watch the full show via our YouTube channel See the link below:… pic.twitter.com/uVZSGe38hQ
— MIC ON PODCAST (@Themiconshow) June 29, 2024

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