Strong indications have emerged that the Federal Government may lose a whopping N4 trillion to the recent spate of defections among politicians, especially from the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party to the ruling All Progressives Congress. The current trend, it was gathered, was part of the desperate moves by politicians indicted and accused of corrupt practices to escape prosecution.
It was also gathered that some of these former political office holders, who are currently facing corruption charges in different courts, have between them the sum of N4 trillion allegedly stolen while their tenure lasted.
Based on these findings, however, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has said that it will not spare any politician in this category, who has been found guilty of treasury looting.
The spokesperson for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwugiaren, told our correspondent that there would be no hiding place for them. “The EFCC will not relax until we successfully prosecute the public treasury looters,” he added.
Recently, some streetwise politicians from the opposition party, most of whom are former governors and other elected political office holders, have been moving in droves to the ruling APC.
Investigations by he Point revealed that these crop of allegedly discredited politicians from the opposition PDP have ceaselessly been making efforts to hob-nob with some frontline APC leaders in their desperate attempts to find relevance in the current dispensation and remain far away from the reach of the long arms of the law.
It is instructive that almost all the new defectors, who are former political office holders, are either having corruption-related cases in court or are simply under discreet investigations by the two anti-graft agencies.
According to our findings, these former political office holders, who have one corruption case or the other against them either in court or at the anti-graft agencies, have lately warmed themselves into the heart of the APC.
Some of these politicians include Joshua Dariye, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Rotimi Amechi, Timipre Sylva, Orji Uzor Kalu, Adebayo Alao-Akala and a host of others, who were once governors in Plateau, Kano, Rivers, Bayelsa, Abia and Oyo states, respectively. Dariye was said to have stolen and misappropriated public fund to the tune of N7.4 billion, while serving as the executive governor of Plateau State between 1999 and 2007.
He has used all the tricks at his disposal to ensure that the allegations are brushed aside, but to no avail. He is known to have lost an appeal, challenging the jurisdiction of his trial at the High Court.
Not giving up, his counsel lately filed an appeal at the Supreme Court, to challenge the ruling of the Court of Appeal. Sylva, a former governor of Bayelsa State between 2007 and 2011, has randomly been accused of graft by his predecessor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, who accused him of having stolen N19.2 billion.
The same Sylva contested under the banner of the APC, alongside his accuser in the last governorship election, which he lost. It is on record that Sylva was, of course, docked in 2014 by the Economic Crimes and Financial Commission, which accused him of using three of his companies to siphon Bayelsa State funds.
Kwankwaso, further checks revealed, is also being accused of misappropriating about N3 billion, which he reportedly used for his illfated presidential ambition. He was said to have sourced the fund by directing the 44 local government areas in the state to raise N70 million each.
The money, as a matter of fact, was said to have been sourced through Local Government Joint Account. EFCC operatives were alerted to the fraud, following a petition from some citizens of the state.
Also on the list of such defectors is the Minister of Transport, Amaechi. He was accused of embezzling about N3 trillion by the incumbent governor of the state, Nyesom Wike. Amaechi has repeatedly denied the allegation, saying that it was a way of calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
Also, Kalu, who was the governor of Abia State between 1999 and 2007, is also being asked by the anti-graft agency to refund a sum of N5.6 billion. Kalu had been arraigned in the court of law, and is known to have explored all legal means in his desperate move to stall his trial.
A few weeks back, the former governor of Abia State defected from the PDP to the APC. He is said to be eyeing the position of the vice president come 2019.
The last but not the least is Mr. James Ibori, who was recently released from a British prison, after he had served a 13-year jail term for stealing $250 million. He is now being speculated to be planning to defect to the APC.
