Indications emerged yesterday that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, would any time this week arraign the arrested and detained officials of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA. A source close to the agency confided in our correspondent that the officials, who are still being held at EFCC’s custody in Abuja, would be brought to Lagos to face justice. Those in EFCC custody include Managing Director of the agency, Engr. Abdulsalami Abubakar; director of finance and accounts, Mrs. Clara Aliche; general manager (Finance), Segun Nurudeen Agbolade; acting general manager (Procurement), Muyiwa Adegorite; acting general manager (ICT), Akinribido Bolaniran; acting general manager (Electromagnetic Services), Atiku Abubakar; and Felicia Agubata (project manager). The officials are held over allegations of financial impropriety amounting to about N5 billion.

It was gathered that the anti-graft agency would in a matter of weeks, visit the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, over alleged corrupt practices. Those arrested were made to explain how Abdulsalam and his predecessor, both singlehandedly signed off payments of over N3 billion on ‘questionable contracts’ between 2013 and 2015. Documents obtained by our correspondent revealed that the bulk of the payments were for clearing of containers and customs duties, which amounted to N2,101,689, 304.14 within the period under review. Most of the clearing/ customs duties payment were said to be non-transparent, as the agency had never really undertaken any “major importation that warrants payments in tens of millions of naira at different times as claimed by the management.”

Credit: NationalMirror