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The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, said yesterday that Otunba Johnson Oyewole Fasawe, reputed to be a close associate of President Olusegun Oba-sanjo, is being held by EFCC for failing to repay a huge sum he borrowed from an unnamed bank.
Malam Ribadu revealed this at an exclusive interview with the editorial board of Media Trust, publishers of Daily Trust and Weekly Trust. He said that Otunba Fasawe was not arrested alone, as there were other persons involved in the case. “On the issue of Otunba,” he said, “we are investigating him because of money belonging to a bank, millions, that he took.”
Speaking at length on this and other issues, Malam Ribadu said that “such actions led to the failure of banks and loss of depositors’ money.” As such EFCC “will continue to investigate him (Otunba Fasawe) until we get to the root of it.”
According to the EFCC chairman, Otunba Fasawe’s perceived closeness to the President has no bearing on the matter. He said that the com-mission’s investigations entail more than just arrests. Pointing out that the main aim of the investigation is to recover the money owed to the bank, Mal-am Ribadu declared: “If we’re able to establish a clear case against such a person, then we’ll charge him to court.”
Responding to a question about the status and propriety of Bells University, which is alleged by Abia state governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, to be owned by President Obasanjo, Malam Ribadu said that his commission had investigated the mat-ter and found no merit in the accusation.
“There are a lot of public officials identified with universities. But the one I know directly - I’ll say so because he (Governor Kalu) came to us - is the Bell University of Obasanjo. It is part of Orji Kalu’s allegations. My people went there and found that while the university has been licensed, it has not yet taken off.”
Describing in detail the alleged location of the university in Badagry, Lagos state, the EFCC chairman said that “there is no block on ground. Not a single building. He (President Obasanjo) used to have a school called Bell Secondary School, which has been in existence since 1992. I’ve been to the school a few times. I have pictures of the school, details of how the school was established and how much money was spent on every building that we found.”
Speaking further on Governor Kalu’s allegations against the President, Mallam Ribadu recalled that whereas the governor claimed to have “strong, impeccable evidence” to back up his claims, he was yet to come forth with any hard proof. “We will soon make public the facts dispelling Kalu’s allegations,” he added.
Mallam Ribadu also revealed that the commission is likewise investigating allegations against Governor Kalu and other governors.
Reiterating that President Obasanjo is not known to have any account outside the country, the chairman of the EFCC disclosed that the country’s first citizen does not have a credit card to the best of his knowledge.
“We have checked abroad and the President doesn’t have a single foreign bank account,” he said. Regarding whether he has credit cards or not, you cannot have credit cards without an account. We investigated him and he came out clean. In fact there are a number of governors who do not have a single foreign bank account.”
It will be recalled that Governor Orji Uzor Kalu recently made a number of allegations against President Obasanjo. Among them were charges that the President has foreign bank accounts, international credit cards, and owns Bell University.
A detailed report of Mallam Ribadu’s chat will be published in the Weekly Trust of Saturday October 22, 2005.
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