EFCC Looks Other Way As Three High-Profile Fugitives Walk Free
Cecilia Ibru and Dele Oye
The three are businessman Mike Adenuga, former Governor Ahmed Adamu Muazu, and an Abuja-based lawyer, Dele Oye.
Adenuga, a controversial businessman who has acted for long as a financial front for former military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, publicly showed off his presence and freedom last week. He attended a packed event at Eko Hotel in Lagos where he launched fiber optic cable from London. Numerous public officials, including the Senate President, David Mark, and the governors of Lagos and Ogun states attended the event.
The EFCC recently made a fan-fare of declaring Adenuga wanted following revelations that that he and his wife, Titi Adenuga, had received bribes from Siemens officials. After ignoring a series of invitations to appear before the EFCC in the guise of attending the World Cup in South Africa, Mr. Adenuga sneaked out of the country, leading the EFCC to declare him wanted.
“I can confirm that Chief is back in town, he is not hiding, and nobody from the EFCC has come to his door yet,” said a source close to Mr. Adenuga who is the proprietor of Glo, a Nigerian telecommunications company.
In fact, some newspapers reported that the former governor had been cleared of all corruption charges. Prompted by those reports, the EFCC last week issued a refutation. “We wish to state emphatically that ex-Governor Adamu Muazu is still being investigated and as such could not have been cleared of graft allegations against him,” the EFCC stated. The agency added, “The former governor who until recently has been out of the country is still expected to honour an invitation to interview a team of operatives investigating the case against him.”
But two weeks after issuing the statement, the EFCC has neither arrested nor arraigned Muazu for financial fraud.
The third high profile fugitive being ignored by the EFCC is Dele Oye, an Abuja-based lawyer, identified as the main front used by the former CEO of Oceanic Bank, Cecilia Ibru, to steal
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