EFCC to grill suspended REA MD, directors over N1.2 billion fraud
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to question Ahmad Salihijo, the suspended managing director/chief executive officer of the Rural Electrification Agency, as well as three of the Agency’s Executive Directors, about an alleged N1.2 billion scam.
A senior EFCC official confirmed this Thursday night.
President Bola Tinubu dismissed Salihijo and three other agency directors on Thursday over the alleged crime.
The directors are: Olaniyi Netufo, Executive Director of Corporate Services; Barka Sajou, Executive Director of Technical Services; and Sa’adatu Balgore, Executive Director of the Rural Electrification Fund.
The statement is headlined ‘President Tinubu suspends Rural Electrification Agency managing director and crew from office.’
Tinubu also ordered a broader inquiry into the officers’ actions in “a fraudulent misexpenditure amounting to over N1.2bn over the past two years, some of which has already been recovered by anti-graft agencies,” Ngelale disclosed.
As a result, the President chose a new management team for the Agency, who will begin serving in an acting role immediately.
They are: Abba Aliyu as Managing Director/CEO; Ayoade Gboyega as Executive Director, Corporate Services; Umar Umar as Executive Director, Technical Services; Doris Uboh as Executive Director, Rural Electrification Fund; and Olufemi Akinyelure as Head of Project Management Unit, Nigeria Electrification Project.
The commander-in-chief “expects all appointees in his administration to uphold the highest standards of transparency and accountability in the discharge of their duties and reiterates his determination to elevate the yearnings of Nigerians for good governance and qualitative service delivery above the narrow interests of individuals who are entrusted to provide critical services to the Nigerian people,” the statement went on to say.