EFCC probes N12.9bn DSS fund

Sources close to commission told the Sunday Tribune at the weekend that investigators of the EFCC have zeroed on funds Daura received from the previous administration and what exactly happened to the funds. Following the interrogation of the former Director General of the DSS, Mr. Ita Ekpeyong, it emerged that the service actually returned more than N3 billion unspent operations funds during the period. The EFCC has also received details of the funds inherited by Daura. A source in the commission said following the failure of the investigators to make expected discoveries when the searched the home of Daura, attention has now been zeroed in on what happened to the funds he inherited from Ekpetong. It was learnt that the need to get to the roots of every kobo handed over by Ekpeyong necessitated the search of his house, his interrogation and the decision to place him on stand by for further investigations. A source in the know said: “With the apparent lack of substantial evidence in the searches conducted so far in the residences and guest houses of Daura, investigating authorities are holding on to suspected depletion of funds he took over from his predecessor, Ekpenyong Ita. “The monies handed over are a public knowledge. When the director general of such Service hands over, copies are customarily sent to the President, the National Security Adviser, the Service itself, the incoming and outgoing directors general would have their copies.” The source said that some of the funds already accounted for included the various sums $21.23m and N12.96 billion in pension fund, N2.2 billion in serial account, and another N2.2 billion earmarked for insurance. There are different other us heads totaling about 20, a source at the EFCC said, adding that Ekpeyong has actually been cooperating with investigators by appearing at the Commission’s headquarters almost every other day. Sources said while the EFCC was actually not probing the operations accounts of the DSS, it’s investigators were worried about some bulk movements.]]>