In a bid to intensify the fight against corruption, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), takes the battle to faraway Ghana to block slush funds from reaching Nigeria. The move was borne out of the alleged plan by politicians to roundtrip and use ill-gotten funds to run their election campaigns.
Reports indicated that Mr. Ibrahim Magu, the Acting Chairman of EFCC, is said to have led a team of detectives to Ghana to block repatriation of such funds.
The Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Tony Amokeodo, said Magu was in Ghana to hunt for properties bought with illicit funds by some Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) in Ghana and other West African countries.
The SA further added that EFCC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with three Government institutions in Ghana viz; the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), Ghana Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) and Ghana Police Service (GPS) to track down some corruption related transactions and suspects.
Magu and the detectives arrived Ghana with some intelligence report on huge campaign cash movement along the West Coast and a list of suspects being trailed. It was gathered that in the last 72 hours, the EFCC delegation and the team from the EOCO of Ghana have exchanged some information.
Some of corrupt individuals and groups were suspected to be engaging some Nigerian banks in Ghana for the transfer of the illicit funds. EFCC is determined to block such funds in Ghana and other countries.
In the same vein, the commission (EFCC) has strong suspicions that these funds could be used to support Boko Haram terrorists as in the recent dare-devil audacity with which the group has been challenging the military.
Also, as the elections are fast approaching, these funds could come handy in buying votes, arming thugs and causing confusion in the country. As such, EFCC is in Ghana to identify properties and explore areas of cooperation with the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) and other agencies. Some PEPs and cybercrime fraudsters in concert with some Ghanaians and financial institutions buy choice properties running into millions of dollars in protected neighborhoods in Accra.
Close to the above is the angle of crude oil thieves who smuggle products from Nigeria, using Ghana as their base and thereafter laundering their proceeds through buying properties or moving the monies to Nigeria.
