From Blessing Ibunge, Port Harcourt
The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Magu has described Rivers State as headquarter of money laundering after Lagos State.
This as the EFCC boss has stated that the judgement stopping the commission from investigating Rivers State governors will not stand.
Mr Magu stated on Tuesday during a briefing with journalists at the EFCC Zonal office in Port Harcourt.
The EFCC boss who said that the Commission will leave nothing unturned to track and expose every form of criminal activities in the country, noted that the reason for the rate of money laundering crime in Port Harcourt, Rivers State was because of the nature of its oil business terrain.
He said: “I think Rivers State is the next to Lagos in terms of crime, this is the headquarter of money laundering, because there is alot of oil money, bunker money here. I think you can rate Port Harcourt the second to maybe Lagos when you talk of people playing with sinking, diving, hiding, maybe because of the large space of oil deals.
Speaking on the judgement restraining the Commission from investigating and prosecuting Rivers Governors on financial crimes, he said “Nothing is going to stop us, even the issue of the court order allegedly obtained by Dr Peter Odili and co to stop the EFCC from investigation and prosecution has been overtaken by event even though the matter is still at the supreme we on it.
“I am telling you that, that judgement cannot stand, it will only take sometime it cannot hold and we are going to conclude the investigation. There are so many investigation we are doing, we will take it before the court, let the court refuse to prosecute their case. I am sure the matter has suffered for about 13 years now. We are going to test it, the matter is in the supreme Court, we will follow it up.
“That decision that is pending in the supreme Court does not actually, cannot hold water again. There are subsequent judgement that has discarded it. Clearly, there are other judgement that came up and said nobody, not even the judge, not even the Judiciary, not even the court can stop us from investigating and prosecuting”.
Declaring achievements of the commission since 2019 till date, Mr Magu disclosed that EFCC has “gotten about three (3) conviction of Governors who are presently cooling off in the prison”, adding that 1245 conviction was recorded last year.
He called for the corporation of all Nigerians in the fight against corruption in the country.
