‘I Was Removed From Office For Investigating Billion Dollar Fraud Cases Under Buhari Govt’ — Obono-Obla

The Chairman of the Special Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property under the administration of ex-president, Muhammadu Buhari, Okoi Obono-Obla, has revealed how he was forced out of office.

Obono-Obla, in an interview with Vanguard, revealed that he was forced out of office by fifth columnists who didn’t want him to investigate some corruption cases.

The human rights activist who was removed a few months after the appointment narrated how the then Attorney General of the Federation wrote letters to him directing him not to investigate some cases.

He, however, disclosed that he was relieved of his duties when he failed to obey the directives of the ex-Attorney General.

Obono-Obla, narrating how he was removed, said, “The patrons of corruption in Nigeria in collusion with fifth columnists in the previous regime were not at ease with my patriotic zeal, courage, resolute, strong character, and uncompromising approach to my schedule and decided to push me out by all means.

“It started as far as January 2018 when I was served a letter from the former Attorney General of the Federation directing me what I should not do, including waiting for a mandate because I could investigate any matter. I was also stopped from talking to the media. It doesn’t need clairvoyance to tell one that all was not well when you are directed to wait for a mandate before you investigate cases of financial crime, economic sabotage, or grand corruption.

“However, I disregarded the directives because they were illegal as the law that created the panel had explicitly spelt out the powers of the panel. Then again, on January 31, 2019, I received another letter saying that since I had refused to adhere to that, I should only investigate cases selectively given to me by the powers that be; the panel is suspended until further notice.

“Of course, I knew that the letter was coming from the fifth columnists in the regime, I continued to do my work until 11 August 2019, when I was suspended. While my suspension was pending, the panel was disbanded in September 2019.

“I was investigating some dangerous cases that had remained a no-go area for a long time. Some of them included the $7 billion that was given to banks as bailouts since 2016, which they had refused to pay back; investigating the report of the Judicial Commission into how Nigeria Airways was bankrupted but which report was left to gather dust in government shelves, the failure of oil companies to pay to the federal government royalties and other rental fees amounting to more than $3 billion to mention just but a few.”