Ex-NAF finance chief returns N84m looted fund to EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has recovered N84m from the immediate past Director of Finance and Budget of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore O. O. Gbadebo.

A reliable source in the EFCC told one of our correspondents on Sunday that investigations revealed that the money was diverted from the account of the Air Force.

The source said the money was part of the money budgeted for the procurement of weapons.

Last week, the commission seized houses belonging to Gbadebo; the immediate past Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu (retd.); and the Chief of Accounts and Budgeting of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice Marshal J.B. Adigun, all worth about N5bn.

The source revealed that after sealing off the houses, the EFCC continued to trace the money with a view to recovering the sums.

The source added, “After we sealed some properties last week, we continued to grill the three officers. Gbadebo finally confessed to diverting N84m into his company account. The money was swiftly recovered.

“We have also seized a large fish processing company belonging to Adigun. He also manufactures fish feeds, which he sells to end users.”

The source debunked reports making the rounds that the anti-graft agency recovered $1m from Amosu’s Badagry home when it was searched.

He explained that about $117,000 was recovered from the home of the ex-NAF boss.

The source added, “There have been reports that $1m was recovered from a soak away in Amosu’s Badagry home. This is not true.

“The actual amount recovered was about $117,000 and it was kept in a safe in the house and not in a soak away. The money is currently in our exhibit room. We also recovered N200, 000 in cash from the house.”

Explaining the modus operandi of the suspects, the EFCC detective explained that the suspects usually used their wives to carry out the shady deals.

He said before transferring money, the Air Force officers would use third parties to set up companies and bank accounts, to which their wives would be signatories.

It was learnt that the military officers would then make phantom transactions and transfer money into the bank accounts of the companies while their wives would take possession of the sums.

“Amosu’s wife, Omolara, was arrested when she came to see her husband in detention. She cooperated with us and we have also recovered money from the company. Adigun’s wife, Helen, also did the same.

“They have both been released,” the source stated.

About 11 Air Force officers are currently under investigation by the commission

The source said Adigun had been released by the EFCC but did not say whether the NAF chief was released on bail or if he had returned any money to the anti-graft agency.

However, the spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, was unable to confirm the recoveries when one of our correspondents contacted him on the telephone on Sunday.

“The investigation into the arms scandal is still ongoing and I am not able to comment on specific recoveries,” he said.

Amosu and 10 senior officers are being probed by the EFCC as part of investigations into the $2.1bn arms scam, especially in relation to the 10 contracts of the NAF, said to be worth $930,500,690.00.

Last week, the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.), was detained by the anti-graft agency.

Both Badeh and Amosu are answering questions on the non-specification of procurement costs, absence of contract agreements, award of contracts beyond authorised thresholds, transfer of public funds for unidentified purposes and general non-adherence to provisions of the Public Procurement Act.

Meanwhile, there were indications on Sunday that the EFCC reached a dead end on Saturday in its interrogation of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s ex-Aide-de-Camp, Col. Ojogbane Adegbe.

The PUNCH reliably learnt that the former ADC insisted on the presence of his lawyers during the interrogation by the operatives of the commission.

It was also gathered that Adegbe, as he did last week, refused to name the beneficiaries of N10bn he allegedly got from the Office of the National Security Adviser.

The money was said to have been diverted by the ONSA, under the stewardship of Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), from the Signature Bonus Account in the Central Bank of Nigeria.

An operative of the EFCC, who was part of the interrogating team, said, “We have not made any progress. The man is insisting that he can only make statements in the presence of his lawyers. He has also refused to name the Peoples Democratic Party chieftains who benefited from the N10bn.”

Another source explained that the EFCC decided to detain Adegbe and two other personnel of the Army since no lawyer was available to be part of the investigation.

The source added, “The man, I mean the former ADC to Jonathan, is still being detained by the men investigating the $2.1bn arms deal.

“The operatives are asking him to mention how much he received from the former NSA and to provide a list of politicians who received the funds from him but he has not done so. He is with two others.

“He requested that he could only make his own statements in the presence of his lawyers.

“So, the operatives investigating the case, decided to keep them (suspects) over the weekend.’’