Reps decries missing $202m from NIA funds

*House c’ttee clears new agency chief

The House of Representatives Committee on National Intelligence and Public Safety has said that it is worried about the whereabouts of $202million out of the $289million intervention fund approved for the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA) by the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Chairman of the House committee, Hon Sani Jaji Aminu, who disclosed this at the weekend in Abuja while speaking to journalists, said that the committee has cleared the newly appointed Director General of the NIA, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, over allegations made against him, including that of failing his promotion examination, incompetence, his citizenship and that of his wife.

Commenting on investigations carried out by the House committee following the controversy generated by Rufai’s appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari, the lawmaker declared that the committee established based on evidence presented before it that the new NIA boss passed his promotion examination and that his citizenship as well as that of his wife were not in doubt.

On the funds in foreign currencies said to be missing from the vault of the agency, the committee chairman said what could be termed to be missing, is the balance of $289million after subtracting the $43.4million operations cash discovered by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) at apartment on 7b Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos and another $44milion purported to be missing, which in actual fact is not.

Aminu said that “$44m is not missing; they moved it from one place to the other,” adding that the money was moved from the agency to another place pending when they are settled.

According to him, “what is actually missing is $202million when the $43million recovered from Ikoyi is added to the
alleged $44million and subtracted from the original $289million.”

He disclosed that upon this new discovery, that the committee has intensified efforts to get to the bottom of the missing funds, stating that “we are intensifying our investigation. Whatever they did with the money, we will know.”

Aminu further declared that past director generals of the intelligence agency, directors of finance and other critical to ascertaining the whereabouts of the remaining $202million will be summoned by the committee to testify.

He asserted that after series of engagements his committee has had behind closed doors with the new NIA boss, “there is no iota of truth in the petition that was written by an anonymous person against him.

“It is an anonymous petition containing wide allegations and every allegation could not be substantiated.
“First and foremost, there was no protest in the agency as the immediate acting director general, Amb. Mohammed Dawudu was invited and gave his perspective.”

On the weighty allegations against the new NIA boss, the lawmaker said upon inquiry, the new director general gave them convincing and well backed and verifiable documents, indicating that he is a true Nigerian from Katsina State and that he is married to a Kastina woman, from the same locality and not a Morrocan national as being alleged.

According to the chairman of the committee: “the new director general had his primary education in Chad but had his University education in Nigeria at the Bayero University, Kano.

“He further spoke on issues about his public service life at the NIA and disclosed that at no time, did he fail his promotion examination until he voluntarily retired from the agency as a deputy director.”