Reps raise question on whereabout of $44m recovered from NIA

The House of Representatives on Tuesday raised questions on the whereabouts of the $44 million dollars recovered from the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA) by Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) in 2017 as the Office of the National Security Adviser said it was not in custody of the money.

The Director of Finance and Admin in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Brig. General Ja’afaru Mohammed told the House Adhoc committee investigating the management of recovered fund between 2002 and 2020 that the ONSA has nothing to do with recovered funds and assets.

The Chairman of the adhoc Committee Rep. Adejoro Adeogun who quoted Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as saying that the fund recovered from the NIA office in Okoyi was in the custody of the Office of the National Security Adviser.

General Mohammed told the Committee that the NIA money was not with the ONSA and that the office has nothing to do with recovered funds or the management of such.

He explained that the only money recovered from the NIA was about 41 million dollars which was the funds of the NIA which has been returned to the office on the directive of the President.

According to him, “the NIA was under investigation and the President directed that the ONSA should take charge of the place. I was sent there to take charge of the funds of the agency. I went there and counted the money in their vault and it was about 41 million dollars.

“We kept that money and after the investigation, the President ordered that the money be returned to the agency. We have returned it to the owners as directed by the President.”