Chime Still Under Probe – EFCC

BY RAPHAEL ONYEKACHUKWU, ENUGU – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday declared that former Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime is still under probe.

According to the Commission, no matter how long a crime has been committed, it is still alive any day facts of the crimes are disclosed, stressing that those engaged in looting the nation would not go unpunished.

EFCC’s Head of Operations and Zonal Head, South-east, Mr. Johnson Babalola, who stated this during an interaction with journalists at the Enugu NUJ Press Centre, said some past governors and political office holders in the South-east geo-political zone are currently under investigation for one financial crime or the other.

The anti-graft agency noted that Chime was yet to be out of the woods over the alleged misappropriation of N450 million campaign funds he allegedly collected from the former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Madueke, adding, “Chime is still under investigation. Criminal cases don’t have expiring date. The case is still not closed. Rita has the right to allege that we have compromised. I want to tell you that she too is still under investigation and I don’t want to say more than that about the case,” Babalola declares.

He explained that Rita Mba, fingered along with others in the alleged corruption case, is also being investigated and called on members of the public to discountenance her recent disparaging comments against the Commission.

The Commission Zonal Head also lamented that the EFCC was hamstrung financially in carrying out its onerous task as a corruption fighting agency, saying the very people the Commission is seen as fighting are holding the purse, thereby making it difficult for the job to be executed properly and successfully.

Chime, who defected to governing All Progressives Congress (APC) about two weeks ago, was quoted as saying that his decision has nothing to do the alleged fear of the EFCC, but that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is dead and has nothing to offer the people again.