Lamorde To Face Senate Committee Tomorrow


Barring any last minute change of plan, the immediate past Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, will appear before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions tomorrow.
Lamorde was to appear before the committee last week Tuesday, but this was suspended by the committee without any reason the very day President Muhammadu Buhari asked the EFCC boss to proceed on terminal leave.
Appearance of the embattled former EFCC boss before the committee is sequel to petitions filed against him while in office by one George Uboh, on allegations of diversion of funds totalling about N2trillion.
Confirming this to the Newswatch Times yesterday, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu (PDP Imo East), said according to the Committee’s schedule, Lamorde was billed to appear before the Committee tomorrow.
It would be recalled that Anyanwu had told journalists that Lamorde’s appearance was put on hold because the period fell within the annual recess of the National Assembly.
He stated that during that period, some members of the Committee embarked on trips out of Abuja and some went for Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
During the first meeting of the Committee on the matter on August 26, when the petitioner, Dr. Uboh, made submissions on his petition, officials of the EFCC, led by the Director of Legal Services, Mr. Chile Okoroma, were asked to leave the hearing venue at the National Assembly, sequel to Lamorde’s request for extension of time.
Okoroma was accompanied to the hearing session by Lamorde’s personal lawyer, Mr. Ugochukwu Osuagwu, who had been assigned by the then EFCC chairman to stand in for him.
After listening to the submissions of the petitioner against the former EFCC boss, Okoroma accused the Senate committee of violating the procedure on the conduct of public hearing on public petitions.
The lawyer also condemned the decision of the committee to listen to the submissions of the petitioner in the absence of the accused, alleging that it breached the principle of fair hearing.
“It is very wrong for a petitioner to be heard publicly in the absence of the person the petition is against,” he said.

One of the reasons Lamorde sought for extension of time then was the absence of the comprehensive annual audit report of the EFCC from KPMG, an audit firm handling the audit of the commission.

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