Tribune
The Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno, has denied knowledge of the $44 million recovered from the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA) office located at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi Lagos State by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2017.
In his testimony, ONSA’s Director of Finance and Administration, Brig. General Ja’afaru Mohammed, who testified before the Ad-hoc Committee investigating on the ‘Assessment and recovered loot from 2002 to 2020’, dismissed the allegation levelled against the ONSA by the acting EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa when he appeared before the Committee last week.
Aside from the $44 million recovered by the EFCC from the NIA Osborne Tower, Ikoyi Lagos State, Gen. Mohammed disclosed that the sum of $44,247,300 found in the custody of NIA at the peak of the investigation was taken to the NSA account but was later returned on the directive of the President after the conclusion of the investigation.
According to him, “at the height of the crisis in NIA, Mr President directed and set up a committee headed by the Vice President and the then Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and the then NSA, three of them. So in the course of that investigation, I was tasked to go and take over the office of Finance in the office of the NIA in the interim, that time.
“So when I got there they said okay, all the funds there I should count and document them properly.
“The one that I actually took over that time, I was asked to move the money to NSA and keep. That time the investigation was going on, it’s not that the money was looted. No, that I should keep that money until when they finish their investigation.
“So I moved the money to NSA. Then when they concluded their investigation, Mr President directed that we should return the money back to NIA and that was the money we returned and were presented the certificate that we returned the money back to NIA.”
He disclosed that money amounted to $44,247,300. He however noted that the money recovered from Osborne Towers which was recovered by EFCC was not with the NSA.
He further noted that the ONSA which “coordinates the activities of the intelligence community and investigative agencies, does not carry out recovery on its own, except the ones Mr President directs otherwise.”
Mohammed noted that from the inception of this administration in 2015, a Committee was constituted to audit all the arms procurement and expenditures.
According to him, the committee which drew its members from various intelligence services including EFCC commenced its assignment in ONSA, and opened an account designated as NSA Recovery Account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
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