Yari threatens showdown with EFCC, says ‘enough is enough’

Zamfara state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, has accused Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), of intimidating governors “for no just cause”.

Yari, while speaking with journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said he intends to report Magu to the federal government.

The chairman of Nigeria governors forum accused the commission of not “tidying its work” before going to court and that “all it wants is for Nigerians to know it has invited a governor or that one former governor is arrested”.

Yari denied an EFCC allegation that parts of the Paris Club loan refund were diverted from the NGF’s account on his instruction.

The anti-graft agency had also alleged that N500m from the fund was diverted to offset Yari’s personal loan obtained from the First Generation Mortgage Bank Limited.

But Yari said it is all lies.

“I am going to write to the federal government that enough is enough; that either the EFCC should do its work or we should ‘do showdown’ with them (EFCC) because nobody became governor to be intimidated, to be harassed, to be abused by a DCP, he said.

“You can’t fight corruption that way and forever, they (EFCC) will not achieve anything.

“In the case of my humble self, I have no idea why the EFCC is actually interested in the issue of the London Paris Club refund. It has been on this since inception up till now. It has been repeating, contradicting so many things especially about personalities.

“So, if there is anything wrong there, it should approach the person whom it suspects did something wrong, and not to be making noise about it. I challenge the chairman of EFCC to open up and say if he has ever come to me and interviewed me about what happened.

“We didn’t commit any fraud. I am not a signatory to that account but I am the head. So, it is what governors agree that I, as chairman, append my signature on. So now, they are saying $86m fraud, N19bn fraud, $3m hotel; which one do we believe?” he asked.

( The Cable )