Festus Keyamo, Senior Advocate and Human Rights lawyer, on Wednesday warned against politicizing the investigation of suspended Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Mounir Haliru Gwarzo.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Keyamo said they should not reduce the laudable, \u201cinvestigation of alleged graft to a mere political witch-hunt by linking it to the on-going probe of Oando Plc.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In a statement he signed and sent to DAILY POST, the Senior lawyer said these, \u201cpolitical jobbers\u201d are out to \u201cintimidate the agencies investigating the suspended DG of SEC into abandoning their mandate and ultimately erode the confidence of the Nigerian public in the eventual outcome of the investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The statement reads, \u201cIt is no longer news that Mr. Mounir Haliru Gwarzo, the suspended Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (DG of SEC) is under investigation for his conduct as the head of Nigeria\u2019s apex securities regulator. In this respect, I am aware of the following bodies presently investigating all the allegations raised against the suspended DG of SEC:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAn Administrative Panel of Inquiry set up by the Hon. Minister of Finance;<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Economic and Financial Crimes Commission<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIndependent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, I woke up this morning and read of the attempts by the House of Representatives, some individuals and even media outlets to reduce this laudable investigation of alleged graft to a mere political witch-hunt by linking it to the on-going probe of Oando Plc.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe clear objective of these political jobbers is to intimidate the agencies investigating the suspended DG of SEC into abandoning their mandate and ultimately erode the confidence of the Nigerian public in the eventual outcome of the investigations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cLet it be known to all and sundry that despite the hues and cries of those trying to obfuscate the real issues in this investigation, the questions that well-meaning Nigerians and myself want answered are as follows:-<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cDid the suspended DG of SEC pay to himself the sum of N104,851,154.94 (One Hundred and Four Million, Eight Hundred and Fifty One Thousand, One Hundred and Fifty Four Naira, Ninety Four Kobo) as \u2018severance benefits\u2019 after for his elevation from Executive Commissioner of SEC to DG of SEC despite not having completed his tenure as Executive Commissioner?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this is true would it not be in contravention of Section 1 of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers set out in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act and Sections 122 and 311 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of FCT?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cDid the suspended DG of SEC award contracts to companies like Outbound Investment Limited, Northwind Environmental Services and Micro-Technologies Nigeria Limited in which he and his cronies are both directors and shareholders?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this is true would it not be in contravention of Section 1 of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers set out in the 5th Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Section 311 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of FCT and Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cDid the suspended DG of SEC divert for his personal use the vehicles belonging to the Securities and Exchange Commission despite receiving the sum of N84,388,886.00 (Eighty Four Million, Three Hundred and Eighty Eight Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty Six Naira) as monetized car grant\/allowance for four cars?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this is true, would it not be in contravention of Section 1 of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers set out in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Section 311 of the Penal Code Act Laws of FCT and Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst Nigerians anxiously await the Report of all the investigations into the Securities and Exchange Commission, I also urge the relevant agencies to continue the transparent and thorough probe of the issues surrounding Oando Plc.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Oando Plc probe should not be scuttled on account of the investigation of the suspended DG of SEC because the Oando probe and the SEC investigation are mutually exclusive despite the attempts to link them together.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe posers raised above agitate the minds of all well-meaning Nigerians who are eagerly awaiting the thorough and speedy conclusions of all investigations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI therefore urge all the bodies and agencies involved in the probe to be firm, fair and decisive. They should not be distracted by those who want to introduce politics into the whole affair.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Festus Keyamo, Senior Advocate and Human Rights lawyer, on Wednesday warned against politicizing the investigation of suspended Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Mounir Haliru Gwarzo. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[11125,11124],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Festus-Keyamo-3.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39577,"url":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/just-mounir-gwarzo-suspended-dg-securities-exchange-commission-sec\/","url_meta":{"origin":39945,"position":0},"title":"Just In: Mounir Gwarzo suspended as DG Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC","author":"Reporter","date":"November 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Mounir Gwarzo, has been suspended from office. Mr. Gwarzo was suspended on Wednesday by the finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, \u201cto allow for an unhindered investigation of several allegations of financial impropriety levelled against the Director-General.\u201d According to a statement by Patricia\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/munir.jpg?fit=600%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/munir.jpg?fit=600%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/munir.jpg?fit=600%2C350&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51259,"url":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/icpc-arraigns-ex-sec-dg-mounir-gwarzo-for-fraud\/","url_meta":{"origin":39945,"position":1},"title":"ICPC Arraigns Ex-SEC DG, Mounir Gwarzo For Fraud","author":"Damilare Salami","date":"June 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The former Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mounir Gwarzo, was on Tuesday arraigned on a five-count charge for alleged fraud. Mr Gwarzo was arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC). He was arraigned alongside a commissioner at the commission, Zakawanu Garuba. Both\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mounir-Gwarzo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Mounir-Gwarzo.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Mounir-Gwarzo.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Mounir-Gwarzo.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Mounir-Gwarzo.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Mounir-Gwarzo.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40051,"url":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/suspended-sec-boss-gwarzo-attempted-blackmail-adeosun\/","url_meta":{"origin":39945,"position":2},"title":"Suspended SEC boss, Gwarzo, attempted to blackmail me \u2014 Adeosun","author":"Reporter","date":"December 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on Thursday said her decision to suspend the embattled Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mounir Gwarzo, followed his attempt to blackmail her over the ongoing probe of Oando Plc. 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