N123bn fraud: EFCC quizzes former Head of Service, Oronsaye

A former Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF), Steve Oronsaye, is currently being interrogated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations of corruption.

The former HOSF was summoned to the EFCC headquarters in Wuse 2, Abuja, yesterday morning, where he is being interrogated.

It was not clear as at the time of publishing this report whether Oronsaye would be allowed to go home after his interrogation or detained.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed that Oronsaye is with the anti-graft agency.

Oronsaye was appointed Head of the Civil Service of the Federation by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in June 2009 and retired on November 16, 2010.

However, in September 2014, the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation released a report that indicted him of N123 billion alleged fraud.

The 169-page report, titled ‘Special Audit of the Accounts of the Civil Pensions’, found Mr. Oronsaye guilty of allegedly presiding over the looting of the nation’s resources during his tenure.

The audit by the auditor general arose from the work of a Special Audit Team constituted by the Federal Government in May 2011 to conduct a comprehensive examination of the accounts of the Civilian Pension Department domiciled in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

The audit, which covered the period 2005 to 2010, uncovered monumental financial irregularities, opaque transactions, irregular and abnormal running costs, and outright stealing and kick-backs said to have reached its zenith during the 18 months that Mr. Oronsaye served as Head of Service.

The auditor general’s office, insiders say, completed its assignment and submitted its report to government in 2012. But no action has been taken to bring all those indicted to book.

While allegations of massive corruption hung around his neck, Mr. Oronsaye remained very close to then President Goodluck Jonathan.

He also continued to occupy some of the most important positions in the country. He is, for over 10 years now, chairman of the Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and was board member of both the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the two public organisations widely considered the most lucrative in the country.

Sources also suggested that there are some corruption fronts that both the Auditor General of the Federation and the EFCC are yet to cover.

For instance, highly placed sources at the presidency and the Office of the Head of Service revealed how Oronsaye on June 30, 2010 allegedly transferred N113 million from pension account No; 4501040012292 with Union Bank Plc to a Unity Bank account named Contingency.

“The said Contingency account turned out to be a State House account in the name of Principal Private Secretary to the President, which Mr. Oronsaye continued to operate many years after he was removed as private secretary to the president.

“Further checks showed that a certain Shola Aiyedogbon withdrew substantial part of the illegally transferred funds for onward delivery to Mr. Oronsaye.

“It was only on January 27, 2011 that Unity Bank alerted the Permanent Secretary, State House, that Mr. Oronsaye was still operating the account before he finally let go”, the source disclosed.

Meanwhile, former governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, was yesterday arraigned before Justice Adeniyi Ademola of a Federal High Court in Abuja on three counts of money ($2.29 million) laundering.

He pleaded not guilty to the three counts.

Justice Ademola adjourned till Thursday for hearing of his bail application.

In the same vein, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered that a former Adamawa State governor, Murtala Nyako, and his son, who were arraigned in the court for alleged money laundering on Wednesday, be remanded in the custody of the EFCC, which dragged them before the court.

The accused are to be remanded in custody till Friday when their bail application will be heard following an application by the ex-governor’s counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN), pleading for time to familiarise with the charges.

Nyako and his son, who are contending against 37 counts of money laundering, pleaded not guilty to 17 of the charges.

Nyako and his son, Abdulazeez, were arrested on Tuesday by operatives of the commission.