President Bola Tinubu may have capitulated to political intrigues in the Presidency as well as other vested interests and called off his earlier resolve to sanitise leading government-owned enterprises (GOEs), which led to the inauguration of Jim Obazee panel, The Guardian learnt at the weekend.
The abrupt closure of what was meant to be an extended and far-reaching fact-finding mission of the Special Investigator and his team, the investigation suggested, was the nail in the coffin.
The letter conveying the appointment of Jim Obazee was personally signed by the President, showing the weight of the assignment. Obazee, who was merely the public face of a carefully selected team of forensic auditors charged with the responsibility of cleaning up the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and “related entities”, was to report to the President directly.
The Guardian reported that the team, independently drawn by Obazee from the six geopolitical zones, had direct and uncensored access to the President at the start of the assignment.
But the privilege was contained as politicians began to get in the way of the team. The Guardian also reported that top business executives and politicians being indicted by the activities of the investigators were throwing spanners into the investigation with outright blackmail becoming a major weapon.
Sources privy to the events that led to what is now seen as a premature closure of the assignment confided that the press statement announcing the closure came before “a serious examination of the extent of collaboration between those who mismanaged the CBN and managers of related entities”.
In a letter dated July 28, 2023, the President said Obazee would work on a comprehensive report on public wealth being pocketed by a tiny percentage of Nigerians and report directly “to my office”.
“By the fundamental objective outlined in Section 15(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), this administration is, today, continuing the fight against corruption by appointing you as a Special Investigator, to investigate the CBN and related entities…
“The full terms of your engagement as Special Investigator shall be communicated to you in due course but, require that you immediately take steps to ensure the strengthening and probity of key Government Business Entities (GBEs), further block leakages in CBN and related GBEs and provide a comprehensive report on public wealth currently in the hands of corrupt individuals and establishments (whether private or public).
“You are to investigate the CBN and related entities using a suitably experienced, competent and capable team and work with relevant security and anti-corruption agencies to deliver on this assignment. I shall expect a weekly briefing on the progress being made,” the appointment letter read.
READ FROM THE GUARDIAN
