Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detectives have questioned two former Group Managing Directors (GMDs) and three former Executive Directors (EDs) of the NNPC over their roles in the secret transfer of $153m to some banks.
The money was wired from NNPC’s account to the banks on the directive of ex-Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke whose multi-billion naira estate the EFCC plans to seize.
One of the former executive directors is said to have admitted playing a role in the transfer of the money, which belongs to the corporation.
An EFCC source confirmed that the ex-top men and few others had been quizzed in connection with the huge transfer. He declined to name the former officials, saying it could jeopardise the probe.
“We are however not stopping at this bend because we discovered that some of these officials were used for many illicit transactions,” the source said, adding:
“By the time we extend our investigation to crude oil lifting, you will appreciate the sleaze during the tenure of Diezani as minister of Petroleum Resources. A syndicate was used to perpetrate the fraud in the oil firm.”
An NNPC source confirmed the interrogation of the former officials to The Nation.
The source said: “This corporation is following the development. The EFCC is on top of the $153million palaver; it has actually been inviting some of our past officials for questioning.
“The good thing is that some of these former officials are still on NNPC’s pension roll. They can be recalled at any time for clarification of issues."
