The Nigerian Governors’ Forum is currently enmeshed in another allegation of massive fraud as three more governors are believed to have diverted the London-Paris Club refund, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) sources said yesterday just as the anti-graft agency says it has discovered another slush account operated by the Nigeria Governors Forum(NGF) where suspicious transactions related to the London-Paris Club refund have been found .
EFCC sources disclosed that the governors and their cronies are under investigation and some of those implicated in the mismanagement and diversion of the refund will prosecuted.
Security reports allegedly indicted some governors of gross abuse of the cash.
According to a source, who gave an update on the investigation of the refund, all suspects will be brought to book.
The source said: “As part of the ongoing probe, we have traced diversion of funds to three more governors and their cronies. This is apart from two governors who have been fingered in such deals.
“So, we have cases of diversion of public funds into private accounts under the guise of consultancy fees. This explains why salaries have not been paid in some states”, the source added.
‘We have rated this new discovery as a slush account. This is aside the two accounts on which we placed Post No Debit(PNB).”
According to the source, “more consultants have confessed that they were paid for jobs not done.
He went on: “We will release the details to the public very soon. All the suspects will certainly face trial. Those who have immunity will face the consequences, no matter how long it takes.
“Already, one of the governors has forfeited N500million and another crony of the second governor has refunded $500,000 out of $3million linked to his account.
“We have also applied for the forfeiture of over N1.823billion by some consultants hired by the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).”
Following protests by states against over deductions for external debt service between 1995 and 2002, President Buhari had approved the release of N522.74 billion (first tranche) to states as refunds pending reconciliation of records.
“From the security reports available to the President, some of the governors allegedly misused the refunds. A few of them devoted 20% -30% to payment of salaries. And some diverted the cash.”
