Alleged N1 trillion: Senate Vows to proceed with Larmode Probe

Senate on Tuesday vowed that the Upper Chamber would proceed on investigation into alleged diversion of N1 trillion by Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Larmode

ignoring pressure from PDP senators not to proceed with the investigation

People Democratic Party(PDP) Senators had kicked scheduled investigative hearing of Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged diversion N1 trillion.

However, Chairman of the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public. Petitions, Senator Samuel Anyanwu vowed to proceed with already schedule probe of EFCC boss who was accused of diversion of N1 trillion.

According to Anyanwu at an interview session with journalists  yesterday,  the PDP leadership in the Senate namely the Minority leader, Godwill Akpabio, Deputy  Minority Leader, Philip Aduda , Minority Whip, Emmanuel Bwacha and Deputy Minority Whip, Abiodun Olujimi, confused his committee’s invitation to Lamorde to a failed one , earlier moved on the floor of the senate in form of an amendment to a prayer in a motion.

He said Lamorde’s scheduled appearance before his committee today along with the man alleging him to be involved in N1trillion scam, is a fall out of a petition to that effect, which falls within the ambit of the functions of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition.

He said: “As the Chairman Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, I am answerable to the Senate in the first instance. Two, this Committee attends to every petitions that come from the public and  the invitation to the EFCC boss is one of those petitions and the petitioner is going to appear before the Committee. 

” If you look at the press statement by the Senate  Minority Leader and by extension, PDP leader,   Senator Akpabio, it was a misinformation. 

” This is so because he is wrongly linking Lamorde and others invitation to what happened on the floor of the senate weeks ago when an attempted amendment of a prayer in motion where the CBN Governor was to be invited with the EFCC boss regarding money laundering and all that , but rejected. So, their statement was clearly based on misinformation”.

He emphatically said that the committee is going ahead with the probe today, saying”  this is a standing committee of the Senate. It is not only EFCC boss that was invited. There are other petitions which we have invited the petitioners and those  petitioned against. 

‘We have FIRS, Comptroller General of Customs that are also coming tomorrow ( today),so , I don’t know why this should be an issue. We are guided by the Senate Standing Rule and the 1999 Constitution to invite anybody when the matter arises” 

When asked what next in case the embattled EFCC boss refuses to honour the invitation, he said: “I cannot conclude that now because I don’t want to  pre-empt anything for now”

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