EFCC Set To Arrest Jonathan Before May 29?

Considering the level of investigations con­ducted on the Good­luck Jonathan admin­istration, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may arrest the former president before May, 29, 2016, when the current administration would have clocked one year in office, a top official of the agen­cy has said. The EFCC top shot, who spoke with The AUTHORITY at the weekend, disclosed that the arrest, two weeks ago, of the Managing Director of Kakatar Engineering and Construction Company Limited, Mr. Azibao­la Robert, whom the official de­scribed as “closest kinsman of former president Jonathan so far,” was a clear indication that “we are inching close to making former President Jonathan our guest.” The official dismissed as reckless recent comments by another former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, dismissing the anti-graft agency as a “tooth­less bulldog.” The EFCC chief predicted that “unfolding events in the next few weeks will actually confirm whether the EFCC has indeed become a toothless bulldog.” Said the official, “We ar­rested Mr. Azibaola Robert on March 23, 2016 when he came to honour our invitation. We also arrested his wife, but she has since been granted bail. The following day, we arrested Da­koru Atukpa, Executive Direc­tor of his company. As we speak, both men are in our custody and are helping with vital informa­tion needed to nail the former president.” According to the official, Robert and Atukpa were arrest­ed in connection with what he described as “ongoing investi­gations” into a $40 million oil pipeline security contract, which emanated from the Ministry of Petroluem, but was paid for by the office of the equally detained former National Security Ad­viser (NSA), Retired Col. Sam­bo Dasuki. The EFCC official said the commission was working on a lead that One-Plus Nigeria Lim­ited, Kakatar’s sister compa­ny which secured the oil pipe­line security contract, may have been a front of former President Goodluck Jonathan. He said, “Even though One-Plus appeared to have success­fully executed the contract, we are interested in details of how the company executed the job, including those who got paid from the $40 million sum. “Even though we are still in­vestigating, there is sufficient suspicion that both men used One-Plus as front of the former President. The Managing Direc­tor of One-Plus has constantly maintained that the company was incorporated well before Jonathan became Vice Presi­dent, and that it wasn’t a crime to come from Otuoke,” offered the official. The EFCC official said the commission was unsettled by former president Olusegun Oba­sanjo’s recent description of the agency as a toothless bulldog, and was committed to taking on persons considered sacred cows just to prove Obasanjo wrong. He said, ‘You know for­mer President Obasanjo has his unique way of passing his mes­sage. Before Obasanjo even de­scribed our Commission as a toothless bulldog, several per­sons accused us of shielding former President Jonathan. The truth is that we are not shielding anybody. It will not be good for us to rush to court only to be dis­graced, the reason we took this long to make the arrests. “However, be assured that a very big fish will land in our net before May 29. We intend to make the arrest of this big fish a Democracy Day gift to Nigeri­ans,” offered the official. Tasked to unmask the identi­ty of the “big fish,” the EFCC of­ficial retorted, “you are a jour­nalist and should know better.” The EFCC official ruled out the possibility of an early ar­raignment for Jonathan’s kins­men, saying, “we will keep them in custody for as long as possible, and for as long as they cooperate and tell us the whole truth about what they know about the trans­actions, and the involvement of the former president.” Said the EFCC officer, “For­tunately, we have secured a court order to keep them (Jonathan’s kinsmen) for another two weeks. If need be, we will apply for an extension. But be assured that we won’t allow this matter go the way of others. With this case, we will prove those who accuse us of being toothless bulldogs wrong.” Contacted, head of media of Kakatar, Mr. Austin Ekheinde, declined comments, referring The AUTHORITY to his boss’s lawyer Gordy Uche, SAN, who confirmed the arrest by EFCC of the MD and ED of Kakatar CE Limited. Said the senior lawyer, “Yes, EFCC arrested my clients Messrs Azibaola Robert and Dakoru Atukpa, MD and ED respective­ly of Kakatar CE and One-Plus, on March 23 and 24th respec­tively, when they went to hon­our EFCC invitation.” The lawyer confirmed that both men were being detained in connection with a $40 million pipeline security contract, and the purchase of a N650 million house, but that the EFCC has re­fused to arraign them before a competent court. According to the SAN. op­eratives of the Commission conducted several searches on the offices of the detained men, carting away several documents . The lawyer said he was reasona­bly informed that both men were being made to make statements under duress implicating for­mer President Goodluck Jona­than ostensibly to serve certain interests. Aside Obasanjo, who dubbed the EFCC a “toothless bulldog” for not going after “sa­cred cows,” top officials of the ruling All Progressives Con­gress (APC) have been mount­ing pressures on President Mu­hammadu Buhari to give EFCC the nod to arrest Jonathan, who last year shocked the world by becoming the first African presi­dent to concede defeat in a pres­idential election even before the results were officially released.