The former Governor, who recently defected from the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, has been a
visitor to the Enugu zonal office of the EFCC, over the sum of N450m campaign
funds allegedly collected from former petroleum minister, Dieziani Alison
Madueke.
Briefing journalists at the Enugu Press Centre, the
South-East Head of the anti-graft agency, Mr. Johnson Babalola, said that Chime
was far from being free from their hook.
Babalola explained that Rita Mba, who was also fingered
alongside Chime and some others, was also under investigation.
Mba had in a petition to the EFCC boss, Ibrahim Magu,
accused Babalola of compromising the case against Chime.
But Babalola said, “Chime is still under investigation.
Criminal cases don’t have expiry date. The case is still not closed.
“Rita has the right to allege that we have compromised; we
are operating democracy, freedom of speech,
freedom of expression I want to
tell you that she too is still under investigation and I don’t want to say more
than that about the case. She is still under investigation and we are making
progress.”
He further stated that apart from Chime, another former
governor in the South-East was also under investigation for allegedly putting
state fund into bond to the tune of over N4b.
While stating that the commission was making progress
despite challenges, Babalola declared that Magu was innocent of all the
allegations against him by the Department of State Services, DSS, for which the
Senate turned down his confirmation.
“He is innocent; he is a very clean man; the DSS is wrong.
“The main thing in Nigeria is corruption and insecurity. The
powers that be are against my oga. He has nothing in his cupboard and they
cannot stop him from carrying out investigation”, he maintained.
He also lamented that the EFCC was hamstrung financially in
carrying out their onerous task because the very people at the receiving end of
the fight were holding the purse, thereby making it difficult for them to
execute their jobs.
“We are handicapped financially for the work because the
people we are fighting are still the same people that will approve our funds,”
Babalola lamented.
By Emmanuel Uzodinma
