The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has reopened money laundering cases against 13 former governors and some ex-ministers, with a staggering total amount of over N853.8bn involved.
The individuals under investigation include two former Ekiti State governors, Kayode Fayemi and Ayo Fayose; former Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle; two former Enugu State governors, Chimaroke Nnamani and Sullivan Chime; former Nasarawa State governor, Abdullahi Adamu; former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Others in the spotlight are former Rivers State governor, Peter Odili, former Abia State governor, Theodore Orji former Gombe State governor, Danjuma Goje, former Sokoto State governor, Aliyu Wamako, former Bayelsa State governor, Timipre Sylva, and former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido.
Matawalle, currently serving as the Minister of Defence, is being probed for alleged N70bn money laundering; Fayemi for an alleged N4bn fraud; Fayose for an alleged N6.9bn fraud.
Nnamani is facing investigation for an alleged N5.3bn fraud; Chime for an alleged N450m campaign fraud related to the N23bn allegedly shared by former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke; Adamu for an alleged N15bn fraud.
Kwankwaso is under investigation for alleged non-remittance of N10bn pension fund; Orji for alleged N551bn money laundering; Odili for an alleged N100bn fraud, with legal complexities surrounding his case.
Goje is being probed for an alleged N5bn fraud; Wamako for allegedly diverting N15bn; Sylva, a former Minister of State for Petroleum, for alleged N19.2bn money laundering; while Lamido is being investigated over an alleged N1.35bn fraud.
Diezani is facing multiple alleged money laundering cases involving several billions of naira and millions of dollars.
The investigations signal a renewed effort by the EFCC to address financial improprieties among former public officeholders.
