Benue State Governor, Hon Gabriel Suswam has tasked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies in the country to act fast on fake petitions.
He added that the security and anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria should impose a rule that would allow the apprehension of whoever that sends fake petition against serving or non-serving public functionaries in the country.
The Governor said: “You will see that the rate at which some enemies of progress send fictitious petitions to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the ICPC or other anti-graft Commissions in Nigeria will reduce if there is a rule that sanctions them”
“These people writing fake petitions against public officials will not have the guts to do so again immediately they have it in their minds that they will be the first to be arrested by the EFCC, ICPC and others the moment it is discovered that their claims are untrue” the Governor told our Correspondent during a chat.
Citing a fake petition of money laundering made against him by one Bemgba Anyor as an instance, Suswam charged EFCC to do everything to investigate the petitioner who he said never existed.
Howeverm, he averred that: “There was no time I withdrew illegal funds from any bank. I also did not launder any money or use any foreign mission to launder money and I want to clearly state that the name of the petitioner does not exist. I challenge him to be more specific by mentioning the name of the foreign mission that was alleged to have helped me launder the money in the fake petition”
Insisting that the name on the petition did not exist, the Benue State Governor added that the whole allegation could not be unconnected with the opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which has been trying to bring his government into disrepute before well meaning Benue people.
He continued that he had never laundered any money since he became the State Governor in 2007 and vowed that he would never do so because of the interest, growth and development of the good people of Benue state which he has as his major priority.