As controversy continues to trail the release of looters’ list by the Federal Government in the last one week, there are strong indications that government is compiling fresh names of people alleged to have looted the nation’s treasury.
Our correspondents learnt that the fresh list might contain names of those who have yet to be arraigned in courts for corruption.
The list may also include names of former governors, ministers and even bankers.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had in the past said 55 persons stole N1.34tn under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Last week, he released 29 names, who he said took money from the office of the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sabo Dasuki (retd.).
Many of the names he released were, however, those already undergoing trial for alleged corruption while the names of members of the former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, who had defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress were conspicuously omitted from the list.
The two lists contained names of those in the main opposition party, the PDP. The PDP had subsequently criticised the government, accusing it of being biased and diverting attention from its alleged incompetence.
But a source close to the Presidency, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told one of our correspondents in Abuja on Friday, that the government, through the Ministry of Information and Culture, would soon release another list.
He said that the next batch would be more comprehensive and would contain the names of those who either took money from the office of the former NSA or directly from the Federal Government before the 2015 elections.
He said the government was aware of the controversy that surrounded the release of the first two lists, adding that the names of some persons considered to be close to the government could be in the third list.
The source said, “Between you and me, I can authoritatively tell you that we are compiling a fresh list. We won’t release it until we are satisfied with it. We want to be thorough. People will be shocked when we release the fresh names.
“Those who accused us of being biased will know that we know what we are doing. The first list was a fraction. When the second one came out, people were surprised. As for the next one, people will be shocked. I won’t say more than that.”
Efforts made to reach Mohammed on the issue were unsuccessful as calls made to his mobile phone indicated that it was switched off.
Our list includes former governors, ministers, bankers –Sagay
However, the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), in an interview with Saturday PUNCH confirmed that the names of 55 persons that allegedly looted N1.34tn under Jonathan’s regime were not in the lists of looters released by the Federal Government.
He said he was very sure that the Federal Government would publish the names of these alleged looters. He said, “Yes, I’m sure. In fact, there is a paper containing all their names, the charges against them, how far their cases have gone, some of them have never been charged.
“That list includes former governors, ministers, bankers and so on. That is another list entirely.”
He, however, refused to mention any of the names on the list, saying, “No, I don’t want to mention any names for now. There are people on that list that the court declared that the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) had no right to prosecute for technical reasons, not for substantive reasons.” (Punch)
