Less than 48 hours after five governors were ordered to vacate their seats by the Supreme Court, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has launched an investigation into the corruption claims against them.
The acting Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, has instructed EFCC operatives to invite the ex-governors of Kogi, Adamawa, Sokoto, Cross River and Bayelsa for interrogation.
Some of the former governors had petitions written against them when they were in government but they could not be invited for questioning because of the immunity clause that shielded them while in office.
The immunity clause which is spelt out in Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution provides that, “No civil or criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against a person to whom this section applies during his period of office; A person to whom this section applies shall not be arrested or imprisoned during that period either in pursuance of the process of any court or otherwise;
“And no process of any court requiring or compelling the appearance of a person to whom this section applies, shall be applied for or issued: Provided that in ascertaining whether any period of limitation has expired for the purposes of any proceedings against a person to whom this section applies, no account shall be taken of his period of office.”
The clause applies to a person holding the office of president or vice-president, governor or deputy governor.
A very reliable source within the EFCC who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent that already letters of invitation had been prepared to be dispatched to the ex-governors.
“The letters are going out next week. The petitions have been with us for some time. We need them to answer all the allegations. If we are not satisfied, we are going to court. We will ensure we do thorough investigations.
“This is not a case of witch-hunting anybody. The petitions have been with us for a while and now that they don’t have the immunity, we have to do our work,” she said.
