Officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
today, granted administrative bail to Hassan Tukur, the principal
secretary to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Mr. Tukur had been in detention for several days as EFCC operatives
questioned him on a his alleged diversion of the bulk of $40 million he
obtained to negotiate the release of more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls
abducted by Islamist insurgents belonging to Boko Haram.
Two EFCC sources said Mr. Tukur’s release, one week after he was
arrested, resulted from a series of meetings between his lawyer and EFCC
officials. Last week, the anti-corruption agency had refused to grant
bail to the embattled former principal secretary, citing instructions
from “upstairs.”
One of our EFCC sources said Mr. Tukur was detained and
interrogated on charges that included his reported pocketing of about
$35 million out of $40 million budgeted for negotiating the release of
Chibok girls. The EFCC source also disclosed that Mr. Tukur had also
received more than N5 billion in duty waivers and was implicated in the
purchase by the Nigerian government of a palatial home in Maitama, Abuja
for a former President of Niger Republic.
Our source said Mr. Tukur was released yesterday, but ordered to
report to the EFCC’s headquarters in Abuja whenever he was required to
do so. The source added that Mr. Tukur cooperated by making numerous
disclosures that are likely to lead to high profile arrests in the
coming days.
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