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Corruption: 15 must explain
06/06/2007 16:23 - (SA)
Lagos - Nigeria's anti-graft agency has summoned 15 former governors over corruption charges involving millions of dollars and they were due to appear before the body on Wednesday, a senior official said.
"They have to explain their stewardship and defend themselves against allegations of financial improprieties while in office," an official from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He said the ex-governors, who served during former president Olusegun Obasanjo's tenure and left office on May 29, were expected to appear before the commission later on Wednesday.
"A warrant of arrest will be issued on the governors if they fail to honour the invitation by the close of business today," he warned. "They no longer have constitutional immunity."
Under the 1999 federal constitution, the president, governors and their deputies enjoy immunity from arrest and prosecution while in office.
Millions of dollars in state funds were looted by senior government officials, including governors, during the regime of Obasanjo, who handed power over to new President Umaru Ya'Adua on May 29.
Five governors were sacked during Obasanjo's rule for corruption, while more than 30 out of 36 state governors were indicted for graft by the agency.
Obasanjo set up the EFCC in 2001 in a bid to rid the country of official corruption. According to the agency, some 400 billion dollars have been looted from oil-rich Nigeria since its 1960 independence from Britain.
Yar'Adua has vowed to continue with the anti-corruption fight.
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