*’Hotel Manager Had Never Seen Anyone Spraying Money Before, Thought The Ex-Gov Was Mad, So Called 911′
By Stephen Gbadamosi, Ibadan
Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has said the agency is currently investigating 18 sitting governors.
He said the agency would swoop on the said governors at the expiration of their tenures in office.
Olukoyede disclosed these at a sensitization programme held in Lagos at the weekend.
The programme was organised to sensitize stakeholders, including movie producers and bureau de change operators, on the ills of Naira mutilation and abuse.
The EFCC boss narrated how a former governor was arrested in the United Kingdom (UK) “because a hotel manager thought he was mad, for spraying pounds.”
He said the former governor fled Nigeria to the UK a day after he handed over power.
“I will give you an experience we had in EFCC. There was a time in this country when we were investigating a governor. We don’t wait until they finish their tenures before we investigate.
“As I’m talking to you, I’m investigating about 18 governors who are still serving. When they leave office, we will go to the next level.
“This governor was investigated while he was in office. Immediately he finished his tenure, the following day he took off to England to avoid the arrest of EFCC.
“Coincidentally, that week happened to be his birthday. He organised a birthday party in the hotel where he was staying. While the party was going on, he started spraying pounds in 50 and 10 bills.
“So, the manager of the hotel was called. He came down and saw the former governor spraying pounds. He had never seen such a thing in his life, and so, he had to call 911.
“When the Metropolitan Police came, he asked that they should help arrest the former governor. The ex-governor was arrested and they wanted to put him in an ambulance.
“His friends, colleagues, and two governors, who went to London to celebrate with him, had to intervene. They said the ex-governor was not a mad man, because the hotel manager thought he was mad,” the anti-graft agency boss narrated.
