ABUJA— NINE outgoing state
governors across the country who
have enjoyed immunity for the past
four or eight years may soon be
guests of the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, as their
tenures expire on May 29.
Sources at the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, told
Vanguard, weekend, that the anti-
graft agency was going after nine
state governors it perceived as having
cases to answer over how they spent
the billions of naira allocated to their
states throughout their tenure.
Meantime, EFCC is said to have placed
the governors under a 24 hour
surveillance.
Vanguard gathered that the essence
of placing them on the watch list was
to forestall their jetting out of the
country immediately they handed over
to their successors on May 29.
The agency is, however, keeping mum
over the matter, a tactic observers say
was being adopted not to sensitise the
affected public officers.
When the spokesman, Femi Babafemi,
was asked about the situation he
simply said: “No comment, when we
get to the bridge we will cross it.”
Vanguard learnt that loads of petitions
against the nine governors were now
with the EFCC and that in a matter of
days the governors would be made to
account for their deeds as the
commission is said to have started
investigating them.
Nine outgoing govs
The nine outgoing governors, whose
names are being bandied, are Gbenga
Daniel of Ogun State, Adebayo Alao-
Akala of Oyo State; Bukola Saraki of
Kwara State and Ikedi Ohakim of Imo
State.
Others are Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano
State; Ibrahim Shinkafi of Zamfara
State; Muhammadu Goje of Gombe
State; Modu Sheriff of Borno State and
Akwe Doma of Nasarawa State.
On May 29, these governors will lose
their immunity as none of them will
return to office, having either
completed their two terms in office or
lost their re-election bid in last month ’s
governorship election.
When contacted over the matter, Ogun
State government through the Chief
Press Secretary, Adegbenro Adebanjo,
said the state government was not
perturbed at all.
He said: “It will not be the first time
EFCC will be investigating some of the
commissioners, but like what
happened the other time, nothing will
again be found this time around. ”
One of the petitions against Governor
Gbenga Daniel is believed to have
been written by former President
Olusegun Obasanjo.
Petitions against Akwe Doma
It was also gathered that one of the
petitions sent to EFCC against Akwe
Doma, the outgoing Nasarawa State
governor, was written by Alhaji
Ibrahim Shekarau Musa, Secretary of
the Congress for Progressive Change,
CPC, in Nasarawa State.
In the petition, Musa alleged that
Akwe Doma ’s son, Umar, was one of
the fronts the governor was using to
siphon money.
It was also alleged that the state’s
Ministry of Water Resources raised the
sum of N900 million through a
backdated memo for the purported
supply of chemicals.
The ministries of Housing and Health
were also allegedly ordered to raise
N200 million and N340 million
through a backdated memo for the
construction of the Banquet Hall of
Government House.
It was further alleged in the petition
that a backdated memo was used to
raise an additional N68 million to
cover the cost of accommodation for
pilgrims participating in this year ’s Hajj
operation.
EFCC has already moved to Nasarawa
State as well as the other eight states
whose governors are under probe.
Already, EFCC is prosecuting 14 former
state governors for alleged corrupt
enrichment while they were in office
between 1999 and 2007. The former
governors are Joshua Dariye of
Plateau State whose case is pending at
the Federal High Court in Abuja;
Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa
dragged to the Federal High Court,
Lafia; Abubakar Audu of Kogi State
with case at the Federal High Court in
Lokoja; Saminu Turaki, former
governor of Jigawa State who is being
tried at the Federal High Court, Abuja;
Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia State facing trial
also in Abuja; Boni Haruna of
Adamawa with case at Federal High
Court, Abuja and Michael Botmang of
Plateau facing trial at the Federal High
Court in Abuja.
Other former governors on trial at
various Federal High Courts are Ayo
Fayose of Ekiti, James Ibori of Delta,
Lucky Igbinedion of Edo, Chimaroke
Nnamani of Enugu, Jolly Nyame of
Taraba, Rasheed Ladoja of Oyo and
Attahiru Bafarawa of Sokoto State.
Ibori is also currently facing trial in the
United Kingdom after he was
extradited from Dubai to face money
laundering charges.

This is a good move,but in the end
will EFCC will able to convict anyone
of them? and if at all convicted may
be 2 years like BODE GEORGE ,or 6
months in hospital like Ibru.EFCC needs to do more jare!