Pension scam: Senate orders police to probe Waziri, Lamorde

The Senate Joint Committee on Investigations into Pension Administration has asked the Police to probe the allegation that the Pension Reform Task Team paid N5.8m into the account of the former Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, and her successor, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde.

The committee arrived at this decision at its sitting on Tuesday, when the Chairman, Senator Aloysius Etok, said it had become imperative to get to the roots of the allegation that Waziri and Lamorde, who both denied the allegation, collected the N5.8m to travel abroad for biometric verification.

Waziri and Lamorde, had appeared before the committee to deny that about N5.8m was paid into their accounts by the PRTT for a trip abroad to carry out biometric data capture on pensioners.

But the Assistant Chief Account, Mr. Toyin Ishola, in his presentation, insisted that the N5.8m withdrawn by Madubuike and handed over to Yusuf was meant for Lamorde and Waziri.

“I urge the committee to investigate further and you will find out that the money was actually paid to them,” he insisted.

Although Chairman of the committee, Senator Aloysius Etok, had asked the EFCC to investigate the matter, Ishola protested, saying the EFCC was not in a position to investigate a case in which it was indicted.

Etok, however, reversed himself and directed that the Police should take over the investigation and verification of the details of payments to Waziri and Lamorde.

The committee also heard how members of the PRTT used bank accounts of employees of the Police Pensions Office to siphon about N5.9bn of the funds belonging to the office.

Waziri, however, said banks helped the corrupt civil servants to siphon the pension funds in their desperation to make money.

“Without bank collusion, they could not have stolen these billions, it is the banks and they knew it,” she said.

The committee has however, asked the Police to investigate the allegations against the two anti-corruption personalities of the EFCC and report back to it.

Appearing before the committee, Mr. Christian Madubuike, an employee of the Police Pensions Office, admitted that several amounts totalling N5.9bn were paid into his accounts by the office between 2007 and 2012.

He said it was the practice in the office for accounts of the officials of the office to receive payments and the said amounts would be withdrawn by the account owner who returned the money to the authorising officer.

Madubuike said, “They paid money into the accounts of staff of the office and the money is withdrawn and returned to the Assistant Director, Mr. John Yusuf (a member of the PRTT). That is the practice.

“Monies were paid into my account without my knowledge, but my boss would call me and tell me that money had been paid into my account and I should go and withdraw it and return it to him.

“Since everybody in the office withdrew the money paid into their accounts and returned it, I could not disobey my superior as I am the most junior in that section.”

He said the N5.8m allegedly paid to the EFCC officials was first paid into his account after which he was instructed to withdraw the sum, which he did, and presented to Yusuf.

Another member of the Accounts Department of the Police Pensions Office, Magareth Oyoebi, confirmed that it was the practice for accounts of employees to be used to receive payments from the pension funds.

Co-Chairman of the committee, Senator Kabiru Gaya, read from the statement of account of Madubuike on the details of the payments and withdrawals from the account.

He said, “In 2007, N1.8m was paid into your account; 2010, N1.8m; another N2.8m was again paid. In 2011, N400,000 and in one day, N2.1m was paid which was divided into three installments.”