EFCC to quiz Alao-Akala, Daniel, others after May 29

Governors Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State, Aliyu Doma (Nasarawa), and Ibrahim Shekarau (Kano) may be among those the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) would be inviting for questions as soon as they hand over to their successors on May 29. Saturday Independent gathered that Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State has been mentioned as another governor who may not escape the anti-corruption agency’s scrutiny. An EFCC source who would not disclose the identities of the other state governors who have recently come under the glare of the commission over the management of their states’ funds, however, told our correspondent that at least 10 state governors had been fingered. He lamented that the immunity clause in the Constitution covers the six others, who have been re-elected to serve another four years. The source, who said the commission is keeping its investigation close to its chest, added that even though some of the governors would return, the investigations would not be closed, as “they will lose the immunity some day”. When contacted for comment on the level of the investigation and confirmation on how many governors were under investigation, spokesman of the anti-graft commission, Femi Babafemi, completely declined comment.  It would be recalled that EFCC had earlier in the week sent its operatives to some states across the federation to gather and solicit sufficient evidence against some governors and their officials before power will change hands in some of the states on May 29. Chairman of the commission, Farida Waziri, dispatched the teams to various states where the anti-graft commission had been investigating allegations of fraud against the governors and other public officials. The teams left Abuja and some of the anti-corruption agency’s zonal offices for the various states of assignment on Wednesday. They have been given a deadline of completing their assignments ahead of the May 29 handover date when some of the governors would have lost their immunity.  Regarding that, Babafemi had said he was not sure whether any team travelled to states for investigations but added that “the commission is set to increase the tempo of its activities now that the elections are over.”