APC gives the EFCC and ICPC a 72-hour deadline to arrest Atiku

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Mr. Keyamo claims that the campaign is following through on the accusations made by Michael Achimugu, who claimed to be a former PDP candidate’s aide.

The All Progressives Congress (APC), the country’s ruling party, has requested that Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s presidential nominee, be detained on suspicion of corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Additionally, the campaign gave the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Conduct of Conduct Bureau (CCB), and the EFCC a 72-hour deadline to arrest the opposition leader.

The spokesperson of the APC presidential campaign council, Festus Keyamo, in a petition dated 16 January, asked the anti-graft agencies to arrest the former vice president on offences of money laundering, breach of the Code of Conduct Act, conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust and misappropriation.

Mr. Keyamo claims that the campaign is following through on the accusations made by Michael Achimugu, who claimed to be a former PDP candidate’s aide.

Mr. Achimugu charged Atiku with utilizing Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) to perpetrate financial fraud in a number of social media posts.

Olusegun Obasanjo, a candidate for the PDP, has been the target of Mr. Achimugu’s accusations, according to Mr. Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and current minister of state for labor and employment.

According to the minister, the accuser offered “emails, documents, audio clips, sworn affidavit and his direct oral evidence as to how Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is currently the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate, during his tenure as Vice-President of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007, colluded with his then boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo, to fleece the nation and steal public funds using what he termed “Special

Atiku’s departure from the race was urged by the party at a press conference held by the joint media directorate of the APC campaign on Monday.

Atiku violates sections 5, 10, 13 and 17 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, according to Mr. Keyamo, who spoke at the conference on behalf of other directors.

The following is stated in Sections 5, 10, 13, and 17 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act:

A public officer must not put themselves in a situation where their personal interests clash with their obligations and responsibilities, according to Section 5.

A public officer is prohibited from requesting or accepting any type of property or benefits for themselves or any other person as a result of whatever they have done or failed to do while performing their duties, according to Section 10(1).

(2) Unless the contrary is proven, any gifts or advantages received by a public officer from for-profit companies, commercial enterprises, or individuals who have contracts with the government are believed to have been received in violation of paragraph (1) of this section.

According to Section 13, “A public officer shall not, in the exercise of his official authority, conduct or cause to be done, any act injurious to the rights of any other person, knowing such act to be unlawful or opposed to any Government policy.”

Section 17 says “A public officer who does any act prohibited by this Act through a nominee, trustee or other agent shall be deemed ipso facto to have committed a breach of this Act.”

The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition Act), 2022’s Section 18 (2), and Section 311 of the Penal Code Law were also mentioned by him.

Atiku must appear for an investigation and prosecution, Mr. Keyamo continued, as well as refund to the federal government all funds held in the SPVs.

“In this circumstance, since the nation now knows that the Marine Float Account and other similar accounts were ‘SPV’ accounts, it follows that all payments made into that account were monies stolen from the public coffers. Therefore, we call on all security agencies to recover all monies withdrawn from that account by anyone for that matter,” he said.

The text of the conference was co-signed by Mr Keyamo, Dele Alake, Bayo Onanuga, Femi Fani-Kayode and Idris Mohammed, all members of the media directorate of the APC.

 

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