Tension as bankers join whistleblowers, EFCC seizes Amosu's hospital - Newspaper review
The whistle-blowing wagon seems to be getting larger as more people including bankers have reportedly joined on. People carrying out fraud will likely be in trouble as their account officers n the bank are likely to give them up for graft.
Whistle-blowing and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's recent action made the headlines of today's papers, March, 20, 2017.
According to This Day, a reliable source with the EFCC, who disclosed this at the weekend, said that some bankers have been encouraged largely by the reward of between 2.5 per cent (minimum) and five per cent (maximum) of the total amount recovered.
According to the source, several former and current public officers who had allegedly stolen from the treasury either hid the physical cash in safe houses or used shell companies, close aides, associates and family members to stash the ill-gotten funds in bank accounts using the names of the companies or their friends, family members and associates.
However, though the accounts are not in the names of the political office holders, they usually operate the accounts themselves, a fact that is well known by the bank account officers who help them to manage the accounts.
READ ALSO: Magu cannot be acting EFCC chairman again - Senate
According to The Guardian, unless the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is consistent in making foreign exchange (forex) available for manufacturers to import raw materials that are yet to have local alternatives, foreign investors with access to cheaper funds may acquire controlling stakes in these local firms.
Already, some firms that are unable to sustain their operations, having suffered huge losses in 2016 due to currency adjustments and inadequate access to forex, are being acquired by new investors, while others are exploring the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) by way of rights issue before considering bailout from their parent companies. Indeed, many listed local producers lost over N50 billion in profit across the food, beverages, conglomerates and drug manufacturing sectors.
READ ALSO: 6 things you need to know about the FG's whistle-blowing programme
According to Punch, a hospital with medical equipment worth about $2.15m which was seized from a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu (retd.), has been handed over to the Nigerian Air Force.
The hospital, St Solomon Hospital, which is located on Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, is said to have state-of-the-art equipment including a Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine which costs well over $1m.
According to The Nation, states are demanding about $6.9billion Paris Club loan deductions from the federal government.
The government has raised a verification and reconciliation team on the claims by states to end over deduction of loans which have crippled many states.
It was also learnt that the government has set guidelines for accessing the refund.
The FG may— no thanks to the recession— issue long tenored instruments of between five and 10 years to states with valid claims to refund the money.
Watch a video of the ongoing debacle with Apostle Suleman:
Source: Legit.ng
