Informed sources within the top echelon of government told Saturday Telegraph that the meeting, which is an attempt to interrogate Sambo on his alleged involvement in the $2.1billion arms deal, may hold early next week at the Kaduna home of Sambo. The sources, who confided in Saturday Telegraph, said the former NSA had indicted Sambo in the ongoing probe into the $2.1billion arms deal, which has seen a lot of highly placed Nigerians caught in the web.
The parley, which sources are certain would hold anytime soon, at the Kaduna home of the former number-two citizen, is coming on the heels of an attempt by the anti-graft commission to invite Sambo for interrogation at the Abuja office of the EFCC, a position that President Muhammadu Buhari is said not to be comfortable with.
Sources in the presidency informed Saturday Telegraph that the chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Magu, after getting confessional statements from the former NSA, had approached the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, asking for permission to invite Sambo for questioning.
But the AGF couldn’t give such permission, so he asked Magu to tarry a while till he gets a confirmation from the president, who initially refused to give his nod. But after much explanations Magu eventually proved his point and the president was said to have soft-pedaled on his earlier stance, but with a proviso that Sambo would not be invited for questioning at the EFCC office.
Instead of giving Magu the go-ahead to invite Sambo, Buhari modified the request of the EFCC boss and ordered that the EFCC team should rather meet Sambo at home, so as not to embarrass the former number two citizen. Buhari, our sources said, was also of the view that there must be facts to confront Sambo with and that there must be no media frenzy about the meeting. “Mr. President was being very careful not to overheat the polity.
He told the AGF and the EFCC boss that they are going for a meeting and not for interrogation. Going after Sambo may be seen as going after former President Goodluck Jonathan. And the president doesn’t want that. “He told them to change the nomenclature from interrogation to meeting.
The president was very reluctant to approve the request, but Magu is a thorough person, he knows what he wants. He was able to convince the AGF and the president asked him to come and explain himself. “He was at the villa, he explained himself, and Buhari couldn’t fault his reasons for wanting to invite Sambo.
He only said they should go and meet him at home and not invite him to EFCC. “Magu was tough on the issue, he wants to score a landmark achievement and surpass the record of his successors. Nobody among the past EFCC bosses has ever picked up a former VP for questioning. So, he convinced Buhari to allow him go after the former VP”, one of the sources said. Another source, a female worker in the presidency, who had earlier informed our correspondent on the probe of all former EFCC chairmen, backed his assertion with the toughness of the new anti-corruption czar.
“Can you remember what I told you about Magu? I told you that Magu is going to probe all the former EFCC bosses. That is not enough for him; he still wants to go after many powerful people. Arresting a big fish like Sambo will be a huge achievement for him, but the president won’t allow him to do that.
Buhari wants him to be firm on the issue, but it must be done secretly. Investigations by Saturday Telegraph further revealed that the meeting would have taken place earlier, but for the absence of Sambo, who was said to be out of the country. But when probed further on the whereabouts of Sambo, the source directed our correspondent to Sambo’s media aide, saying, he is not in a position to tell us his present abode, but quickly pointed out that Sambo has been contacted and he is aware of the meeting.
[Daily Telegraph]
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