- EFCC Grills ex-gov Jang Over Alleged N2bn Fraud
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday grilled the immediate past governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, for alleged fraud to the tune of N2bn.
The spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, told one of our correspondents on the telephone that Jang, who represents Plateau-North Senatorial District in the Senate, was grilled for seven hours by detectives.
“The former governor arrived around 11am and left around 6pm. He is expected to return on Wednesday for another round of interrogation,” Uwujaren said.
Incidentally, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission is also investigating the ex-governor for the same offence.
Jang allegedly committed the alleged fraud in March 2015, less than two months to the end of his tenure as governor.
The lawmaker allegedly received N2bn in cash illegally out of the money which was allocated to the micro, small and medium enterprises by the Central Bank of Nigeria, under the pretext of a loan to be spent on ‘classified expenditure.’
Jang again allegedly received N400m illegally from funds meant for the Plateau State Universal Basic Education Board.
“He also allegedly caused a former commissioner for finance in the state to illegally transfer the sum of N3.2bn of SUBEB funds to the project account of the ministry of finance,” the ICPC had stated last month.
The ICPC said several invitations had been sent to Jang through both the Senate President and the Clerk of the National Assembly to come and clear his name but he had refused and neglected to honour the invitations.
It said efforts to procure an arrest warrant from two different magistrate’s courts in the Federal Capital Territory had been futile as the magistrates declined to sign them even after the sworn requisite affidavit had been presented by the commission.
Sources within the EFCC alleged that Jang collected N982, 526451.02 from the Plateau State Government using a front company, Darmatist Consult, for a purported, non-existent recovery of N7.56bn from Nasarawa State. The money was paid to Darmatist as consultancy fee.
Speaking with one of our correspondents on Monday night, Jang asked if there was “a new thing” in being invited by the EFCC.
The ex-governor declined to comment on the details of the invitation, saying that the commission which informed the media about his appearance should explain it.
“I don’t owe anybody anything,” Jang stated.
