EFCC In Transcorp is a Decoy

By

Saint Azuh

saint_azuh@yahoo.com

 
The reported storming and subsequent arrest of the directors of Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) would have otherwise been a welcomed development but for the circumstances and timing of the arrest.
 
More so, the arrest is coming when it is being widely alleged that the corporate profile of Transcorp and its documentation at the corporate affairs commission had been tampered with, perhaps in a bid to ensure that President Obasanjo is no longer directly linked to the ownership of 220 million equity shares of the company.
 
The issues here are: Did the EFCC wait for the owners of Transcorp to finish changing the registration documents of the organization before swooping in to investigate the plethora of allegations against the entire Transcorp concept?
 
For whatever reasons, whoever might have delayed the EFCC officials until now from looking into the activities of Transcorp, should not toy with the intelligence of Nigerians because Mr Lucky Egede, the Group Managing Director of Obasanjo Holdings in August 2006 admitted in a Newswatch interview that the OHL bought 220 million Transcorp equity shares.       
 
Still on issues emanating from the EFCC’s visit to Transcorp headquarters; what caused the sudden sense of urgency to investigate the activities of the organization when the federal government has just collected the over $500 million raised by the group without asking questions on how they raised the money? Are now asking questions on how they raised the money? Time will obviously answer all the nagging questions.  
 
 
From all indications the alleged interrogation of Transcorp directors looks like a decoy trying to divert attention from the current public examination of the shabbily done EFCC report on Vice President Atiku, which prompted President Obasanjo to set up a kangaroo panel whose sole objective Nigerians clearly know, was to stop Atiku from contesting the 2007 Presidential Elections
 
Interestingly, ownership of Transcorp which was launched in July 21, 2005 had raised serious allegations of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s involvement and the EFCC has up until now looked the other way. The President’s interests in corporation was alleged to be the reason why the organization had been receiving the federal government’s backing in all its activities particularly in buying lucrative federal government- owned businesses in the ongoing privatization programme of the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE).
 
It would be interesting to know if the EFCC is going to quiz all the directors of the Transcorp or just Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke. Almost all the directors of the corporation are high profile businessmen and women in almost al the sectors of the economy and will be interesting to see how the EFCC investigation into the ownership of the corporation and how they were able to raise over $500 million loan for the organization. That is if the actual motive of the EFCC is to unravel the mystery behind Transcorp.
 
 
But if it is a ploy to divert attention and pressure away from the ongoing scrutiny of the report on the vice president, the EFCC may have more questions to answer at the end of the deceit at Transcorp. Obviously, the tactic of diverting attention will not work, as Vice President Atiku seems to be resolutely focused not only on his objective of putting himself forward for the election, but also ensuring that all attempts to smear his name and stop him are robustly challenged and shown for what it is. #