A former Chairman of the Special Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, Okoi Obono-Obla, has alleged that the loot recovered by his panel under former President Muhammadu Buhari were returned to the looters.

He added that the Buhari administration failed to fight corruption, supposedly the bedrock of people’s trust in him.

Obono-Obla, who was appointed a presidential aide by Buhari, made the allegation on Saturday while speaking on the Mic On Podcast.

SPIP was an independent investigative panel set up by Buhari to recover stolen property and assets belonging to the country.

According to Obono-Obla, his efforts to bring many looters to justice in the country were frustrated by officials in the same administration, including former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, whom he (Obono-Obla) described as an ‘authoritarian’.

“Some of the things I recovered were returned to the looters. For instance, there was this case of someone from whom I recovered over 80 brand new X-class Mercedes Benz cars (armoured plated) from in Jabi, Abuja.

“I wrote to the DG, Customs to ask if the person paid customs duties of the vehicles, he said ‘No’, they didn’t pay. I wrote to the Federal Inland Revenue Services to know if the person paid tax on the vehicles; he also said ‘No’ and that they don’t have the records. We went to court to get an order of interim forfeiture, and it was granted 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,” he said.

PUNCH Online observed that Obono-Obla was referring to a case involving a former Director of Power, Works, and Housing, Mr. Ibrahim Tumsah, a resident of Jabi, Abuja, from whom SPIP recovered 86 vehicles valued at about N500 million, land, houses, and farms.

“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.

“They conducted an investigation and sent the report to me. The report confirmed that this senator has over £200 million worth of property in the offshore islands; I sent a copy to the president and one to the Attorney General. Till today, nothing happened,” he added.

While fielding questions on whether the Buhari administration failed to fight corruption, Obono-Obla said, “Yes, I would say so. We didn’t do well. When Magu (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,’” he stressed.

He narrated how, on many occasions, Malami would make jest of him to his wife on his moves to recover funds and question if he had recovered them.

“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,” he added.

Recall that in 2019, Obono-Obla was served a letter of his immediate suspension from office over an investigation by the anti-graft agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, which found that he falsified his WAEC result to enrol at the University of Jos, where he studied law in the 1980s.

He was also alleged of attending the Nigerian Law school on the back of the fake high school records.

However, the former aide denied all the allegations and the case was further dismissed.

Ajens1991:
Let's forget about the past and try to redeem the time. The era of blame game has passed .. time to work

plaetton:
Within just 3 months of the Buhari administration, I knew he was going to be an abysmal failure. And I made that prediction here on Nairaland.
The body language of any new governor or president in the first few months tells you what to expect over the coming years.

For instance, in this Tinubu Administration, he has done absolutely nothing about reducing the cost of governance. All the senior officials of the Senate and House of Assembly are either under active EFCC indictments or formerly convicted.
With overbloated and padded budgets , more and more borrowings, this government, unfortunately, is already failing.

DevilsEqual:


Buhari isn't a man of Integrity after all

Nigerians should stop rallying round men with this "Integrity-Complex". In their bid to appear infallible, then tend to fall so bad

Being a Good Administrator is everything, they promote accountability and personal responsibilities for people's action

Good Administrators over hypocritical integrity preacher any day

PressMyButton:
It became glaring how Malami was embolding corruption, many of his hidden properties were exposed while he helped his associates get away with their loots. He would have created a lot of legal hassles for the country and his party if not for timely intervention of Osinbajo a couple of times. He also had a running battle with Prof Sagay for his executive recklessness. He even bought a nomination form to contest as Governor of Bauchi.

Zico5:
Malami is a criminal who used his privilege to hoodwink Buhari. Buhari was a bad leader in all ramifications. He is very corrupt and wicked, he did not care about this country at all. I don't know why Tinubu couldn't prosecute Malawi till today. If the man is arrested, I'm very sure a lot of looted funds will be recovered.

A former Chairman of the Special Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, Okoi Obono-Obla, has alleged that the loot recovered by his panel under former President Muhammadu Buhari were returned to the looters.

DevilsEqual:


Buhari isn't a man of Integrity after all

Nigerians should stop rallying round men with this "Integrity-Complex". In their bid to appear infallible, then tend to fall so bad

Being a Good Administrator is everything, they promote accountability and personal responsibilities for people's action

Good Administrators over hypocritical integrity preacher any day

CilicMarin:
Can they just sell this country and share the proceeds? I don tire

Macphenson:
To think that MANNABBQ.GRILLS was all over the internet supporting Buhari and calling him a man of intergrity.