The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has widened its net in its ongoing post-administration audit, explicitly targeting the recovery of over N123.5 billion from six former ministers who served under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. The operation, which senior officials describe as “the most mathematically intensive recovery drive in the commission’s history,” marks a major escalation in the current government’s fiscal consolidation strategy.
The Scope of the Monies
Highly placed sources within the anti-graft agency’s headquarters in Abuja, speaking on the condition of anonymity, revealed that the N123 billion figure was arrived at following a meticulous reconciliation of forensic accounting reports, unexecuted contract awards, and unremitted structural funds.
The targeted funds are reportedly split across several sub-accounts, primarily involving:
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Aviation and Logistics Interventions: Alleged irregularities in national carrier consultancy fees and airport terminal concessions.
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Humanitarian and Social Investment Disbursals: Unaccounted-for allocations meant for poverty alleviation programs that were allegedly diverted via complex banking loops during the transition period.
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Power and Infrastructure Mobilization Deposits: Funds released to contractors for grid-strengthening projects that were abandoned or never initiated.
“This is not a political theater; it is a clinical data-driven recovery exercise,” an EFCC source stated. “We are tracing actual figures that left the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under special intervention waivers but failed to materialize into public infrastructure or verifiable goods.”
Operational Seizures and Remand Strategic Moves
The National Guardian understands that the EFCC has already initiated the temporary forfeiture process for several high-value assets linked to the former cabinet members. These include choice real estate properties in Abuja’s Maitama and Wuse II districts, luxury apartments in Dubai, and frozen corporate bank accounts acting as fronts for the ex-officials.
Efforts to get an official statement from the EFCC Spokesperson were met with a cautious response, indicating that while investigations have reached an advanced stage, the commission intends to present a watertight case before the Federal High Court to avoid technical loopholes.
The defense counsels for three of the affected ministers have already filed preemptive suits challenging the EFCC’s forensic audit methods, claiming that the funds in question were fully backed by Federal Executive Council (FEC) approvals under the previous administration. However, prosecution sources maintain that a “FEC approval is not an immunity shield against embezzlement or laundering.”
