Six INEC directors to face EFCC

By Tom Chiahemen & Richard Ihediwa

As Jonathan orders for fresh voters’ register

No fewer than six directors and some other top officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are to face the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following discoveries of cases of huge fraud running into millions of naira in their departments.
Already, some officials who worked directly in the office of the former Chairman of the Commission, Professor Maurice Iwu, including his former Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Andy Ezeani, have been sent on indefinite suspension for alleged involvement in some under-hand deals.
Ezeani, who was appointed by Professor Iwu as his CPS on the rank of a deputy director in the commission, was also said to have been placed on half salary as he was directed to proceed on suspension, pending the resolution of his case.
The EFCC had last year filed a suit, on behalf of the Federal Government, in which it accused Mr. Ezeani, a former chairman of Champion Newspaper’s editorial board, of criminal misappropriation and dishonesty.
In the suit filed by James Onu of the Legal and Prosecution Unit of the EFCC, Ezeani was accused of fraudulently deducting N5, 850,000 from the N7,650,000 donated to the Abuja council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) by INEC, to enable the union host a workshop on electoral matters.
The letter suspending him was said to have been signed by the Commission’s Secretary, Alhaji Abdullahi Kaugama, as directed by the new INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega.
Also, there is unease in the commission as directors and top officials who have collected travelling allowances for the INEC retreat in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, have been ordered to refund same, following directives that no director or staff of the commission is to participate in the retreat meant only for national commissioners.
An impeccable source in INEC told Peoples Daily that the embattled officials to face EFCC, were exposed during the two weeks departmental audit ordered by Jega soon after he assumed duty last month.
He said Jega was jolted by the findings and ordered that all indicted officials should prepare to face the anti-graft agency as the commission under him will not protect them.
Though the source could not give details of the particular departments and officials involved, he hinted that the deals have more to do with violations of procurement rules, inflation of contracts and embezzlement of funds meant for purchase of various equipment.
We learnt that the matter will be officially transmitted to the anti-graft agency to commence investigation and prosecution of the said officials immediately Jega and the national commissioners return from their two-day retreat in Uyo.
“You know there was a comprehensive departmental audit. A lot of shady deals involving millions of naira were uncovered and the chairman (Prof. Jega) has made it clear that he will not cover or protect anyone involved in fraud. I can tell you that some directors and some senior officials are involved and they will have to face the EFCC.
“In fact, the chairman has started taking action against some of them. At least one of those fingered has already been sent on suspension. The chairman has directed that every other person indicted by the audit reports should prepare to be taken to the EFCC immediately the commission’s leadership returns from Uyo and you know the chairman, he will do exactly as he said”, the source said.
Most of the under hand deals, we gathered, occurred during the preparations for the 2007 general elections under Prof. Iwu.
Professor Jega was said to have been deeply worried over revelations that many items quoted to have been bought by some departments were nowhere to be found, as some were not actually purchased, while others were alleged to have been carted away by some officials.
The chairman was said to have been taken aback when it was discovered that a department, which claimed to have bought a printing press, could only show him a photocopying machine.
Insisting that all loopholes in the commission must be plugged, the chairman further directed that any official who fails to refund the travelling allowances collected for the retreat before the end of the week will face sanction.
Efforts to reach the Director of Public Affairs, Emmanuel Umenger, to comment on the matter proved abortive as he was not on seat and could not be reached on phone, up to press time yesterday.
Meanwhile, as one of the major steps towards ensuring free, fair and transparent elections in the country, INEC is to embark on nationwide voters’ registration exercise to produce a credible voters’ register, ahead of next year’s general elections.
The fresh voters’ registration exercise may commence immediately after the four-day INEC Management retreat holding in Uyo. The new register is expected to replace the existing one, which has been widely criticised as being fraught with irregularities.
In view of this, coupled with the re-organisation and other measures planned by the new Chairman of INEC, Professor Jega, the conduct of the forthcoming elections may no longer be feasible in January 2011 as earlier proposed by the commission under Prof. Iwu.
These indications emerged yesterday after a meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and the INEC leadership on the conduct of next year’s elections.
About four operations directors of the commission were said to have accompanied Jega to the Aso Rock Villa meeting, which was also attended by Vice-President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, and National Security Adviser (NSA), General Aliyu Gusau (rtd).
A Presidency source hinted Peoples Daily that Jonathan was of the strong view that it would be better to produce a new register, given the widespread criticisms of the existing one. The president was said to have rejected a suggestion that the existing voters’ register be merely reviewed and updated.
President Jonathan was also said to have asked the new INEC chairman to clearly say whether it would be convenient for the commission to conduct next year’s elections in January or April. Professor Jega, as gathered, did not believe it would be feasible to conduct elections before April next year.
In the end, both the Presidency and INEC were said to have reasoned that even if elections were conducted as early as January, there was no guarantee that the litigations arising from the results of the elections could be disposed of before the swearing-in of those elected.
Jonathan, according to the presidency source, reminded the INEC chairman that the May 29, 2011, hand-over date was “sacrosanct,” and that his administration was not prepared to stay in office a day beyond May 29, 2011.
This came as a former Governor of Cross River state, Mr. Donald Duke, said yesterday that the January, 2011, date earlier suggested by the Iwu-led INEC, was not feasible if Nigerians were serious about holding credible elections.
Duke, who said this at the inauguration of the Change Nigeria Project, held in conjunction with the Save Nigeria Group, in Abuja, explained that the appointment of Professor Jega alone cannot guarantee free, fair, and credible elections come 2011.
“As I speak, we have not started the voters’ registration exercise. You cannot have credible elections without a credible voters register; you can’t have credible elections in January, you can have any election but it cannot be credible. Prof. Jega has been handed a mission impossible,” he said.
Duke explained that for as long as Resident Electoral Commissioners were left at the mercy of state governors for their basic necessities and logistics, credible elections would remain a mirage.
He warned Nigerians not to live under the illusion that things would change over night without each section of Nigeria playing its part, insisting that Nigerian voters have a critical role to play in putting a stop to vote rigging.