FG Freezes Bank Accounts Of All Suspects On ‘Looters List’?

The bank accounts of suspects being tried in court over allegations of corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and whose names appear on the looters list released by the Federal government earlier this year, have been allegedly frozen on the orders of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The embargo placed on the accounts is part of the implementation of the Executive Order No. 6 on the “preservation of suspicious assets connected with corruption and other relevant offences” signed by President Buhari in October 2018.

A former Minister who confirmed this development, said he tried to withdraw money from his account recently but couldn't.

“I issued a cheque of N250,000 to a friend and it was turned down. When I called my account officer, he invited me for a meeting, where I was told there is a ‘post no debit’ instruction on all my accounts because of the executive order. They told me I am not the only one affected. All persons undergoing trial are affected.” a former Minister whose name is on the looters list told TheCable.

Recall that on Tuesday November 27th, former PDP spokesperson, Olisa Metuh, told a court in Abuja that he has not been able to access his account as the EFCC has placed an embargo on it. Metuh is among the list of Nigerians on the looters list.

On March 30th, Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, released the looters list following a challenge from Kola Ologbondiyan, spokesman of the PDP.

“The PDP has challenged us to name the looters under their watch. They said they did not loot the treasury. Well, I am sure they know that the treasury was looted dry under their watch. Yet they decided to grandstand. This shows the hollowness of their apology. This list is just a tip of the iceberg, and the PDP is aware of this. We did not make these cases up. Many of these cases are in court and the records are available,” he had said shortly after releasing the list.

Among those listed were Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser; Dieziani Alison-Madukwe, former minister of petroleum resources; Kenneth Minimah, former chief of army staff; Alex Badeh, former chief of defence staff; Inde Dikko, former comptroller-general of customs; and Bala Mohammed, former minister of the federal capital territory (FCT).

Others are Stella Oduah, a serving senator; Babangida Aliyu, former Niger State governor; Jonah Jang, former Plateau governor; Nenadi Usman, former minister of finance; Bashir Yuguda, former minister of state for finance; Femi Fani-Kayode, former minister of aviation; Raymond Dokpesi, founder of DAAR Communications and Uche Secondus, national chairman of the PDP.