Budget probe: Reps give EFCC chairman 4-day ultimatum to honour invitation

The House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes has given Mr Ola Olukoyede, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, till July 30 to appear before it over budgetary allocation issues.

The committee said that Olukoyede, along with his management team, should appear to answer questions relating to the commission’s budget performance and its challenges.

Rep. Obinna Onwusibe, the chairman of the committee, expressed the panel’s displeasure at an oversight of the commission’s office in Abuja.

The committee condemned what it described as the snobbish attitude of the chairman and the denial of the committee’s members access into the commission’s complex.

Following the denial of access into the commission’s complex, the committee members headed back to their bus and returned to the National Assembly.

The committee had visited the EFCC headquarters after communicating with the anti-graft agency and agreeing on a date for an oversight visit.

The committee was, however, surprisingly told that the chairman was called for an unexplained emergency development at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Reacting, the committee chairman said: “In performing our constitutional functions we had written to the EFCC for this oversight visit.

“The latest letter to EFCC was last week and we all agreed that the oversight is going to be today.

“The essence of the oversight is for the committee to know the budget performance of the EFCC as appropriated by this National Assembly.

“That was exactly why we went and to also see other things, including the challenges being faced by the EFCC.”

He said the committee had requested that the chairman, and all the zonal commanders of the EFCC be invited today for us to interface with them.

“But, the committee also saw that they were not on ground,” he said.

The committee, however, resolved that it would not continue with the oversight and resolved further to summon the EFCC chairman and his team to appear before it.

“As far as we’re concerned, the functions and integrity of this 10th National Assembly cannot be taken for granted.

“We’ve written severally to the commission, requesting information and documents and are yet to get them,” he said.