Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have reportedly grilled Nigeria’s Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola over his asset declaration.
The questioning is also said to be related to what the People’s Gazette describes as his questionable asset declaration as well as the ongoing probe of Babatunde Fowler, the former Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The news media reports that 2 senior EFCC officials said that the Babatunde Fashola was interrogated after detectives were tipped off about his alleged involvement in Fowler’s loot during his tenure as FIRS Chairman.
Information also has it that the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) received a letter from EFCC demanding the Minister’s asset declaration documents to enable it commence another phase of investigations.
The reports say that Fashola has denied any links to corruption requesting that the anti-graft agency does a thorough investigation of all issues to avoid mentioning his name in any act of sleaze.
Before the expose by @GazetteNGR, Fashola’s visit to the EFCC in the last quarter of 2020 has been kept under wraps. The nature of the investigations and the precise reasons he is being questioned have also remained sketchy.
In the opinion of the Online news media, “The mere summoning of a top administration official who handles a key ministerial position prompted suspicion amongst anti-graft officials that a cabal of other appointees and associates of the president may be seeking the former Lagos governor’s rapid fall from grace in order to delist him from 2023 presidential equation of the ruling APC.“