The case file of top Nigerian politician and a former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has reportedly disappeared from the storage facility of the Code of Conduct Bureau that has held it for years.
This has simultaneously caused confusion at the Economic and Finacial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which had begun a fresh probe into the allegation of graft against Tinubu.
Three officials familiar with the matter said that the bureau started looking for Tinubu’s asset filings after the EFCC requested copies as part of an ongoing investigation into the former Lagos governor’s financial and material possessions.
The disappearance could frustrate ongoing corruption investigation into Tinubu’s asset by the EFCC, Nigeria’s frontline anti-corruption outfit, which has apparently ignored the embattled politician’s political ties to President Muhammadu Buhari, Peoples Gazette reported.
“We have searched for the case file everywhere because we want to comply with the lawful request made by the EFCC,” a top management official at the bureau said. “We have not been able to find the documents either at the main head office or the annexe office in Asokoro.”
Another official who interacted with one of the mid-level staffers tasked with finding the documents told the Gazette the matter had become “terribly embarrassing” and a cause for unending worry at the bureau, which is the primary anti-corruption agency in charge of collecting and keep assets of schedule government officials before and after assumption of office.
“We cannot find the asset documents at all,” the official said. “We cannot even find photocopies that we can certify for the EFCC.”
