Keyamo wants probe report on suspended SEC DG released

Lawyer and human right activist, Mr.Festus Keyamo (SAN), has asked the Federal Government to release to the public the report of the investigation panel set up to probe the suspended Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mounir Gwarzo.

Keyamo made the request in a letter dated January 24, 2018, and addressed to the Administrative Panel of Inquiry, Minister of Finance, Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

The letter was titled ‘Re: The Investigation of the Suspended Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission: A Request for the Investigation Report to be made Public’.

Gwarzo was suspended by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, in November last year after he was alleged to have committed acts of financial impropriety. Subsequently, an Administrative Panel of Inquiry to investigate and verify his guilt was set up the same day his suspension was announced.

The ex-SEC DG was suspended alongside two management staff members of the commission: the Head of Media, Abdulsalam Naif; and Head of Legal Department, Anastasia Braimoh.

The Lagos lawyer said failure to make public the report would  reinforce the perception that the anti-corruption crusade had been bedevilled by politics and ethnicity.

The letter quoted Keyamo as saying, “It is disheartening that several weeks after the Administrative Panel of Inquiry was established, Nigerians who have been patiently expectant, are yet to be informed of the report of the investigation or indeed the progress of the said inquiry.

“ I had expected that the investigation will be swift and thorough as the issues raised touch on the twin evils of corruption and impunity. Despite the inordinate delay, I am still confident that the investigations have not been compromised.

“I am by this letter kindly requesting that the Investigation Report be made public irrespective of whose ox is gored as this would help correct the perception that the anti-corruption crusade has been bedevilled by politics and ethnicity.

“Nigerians deserve to know the truth and the falsehoods in the allegations and counter-allegations that have characterized the investigations into the activities of the DG of the SEC and Oando Plc.”

Keyamo had, in an earlier letter written to the Investigation Panel on December 5, 2017, asked the panel to ascertain  if the suspended DG of the SEC paid to himself the sum of N104,851,154.94 as severance benefits for his elevation from Executive Commissioner of SEC to the DG of SEC despite not having completed his tenure as the Executive Commissioner in contravention of Section 1 of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers set out in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, among other issues

Credit: Punch.