Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has revealed that the agency is currently conducting investigations into 18 serving governors.
Speaking during a sensitisation programme in Lagos on Friday, Olukoyede said the agency will take action when the tenure of the governors elapses.
The programme was organised to sensitise stakeholders, including movie producers and bureau de change operators, on the ills of naira mutilation and abuse.
During the question and answer session, the EFCC boss narrated how a former governor was arrested in the United Kingdom because a hotel manager thought he was mad for spraying pounds.
Olukoyede said the former governor in question fled Nigeria to the UK a day after he handed over power.
“I will give you an experience we had in EFCC. There was a time in this country when we were investigating a governor. We don’t wait until they finish their tenures before we investigate,” he said.
“As I’m talking to you, I’m investigating about 18 governors who are still serving. When they leave (office), we will go to the next level.
“This governor was investigated while he was in office. Immediately, he finished his tenure, the following day, he took off to England to avoid the arrest of EFCC.
“Coincidentally, that week happens to be his birthday. He organised a birthday party in the hotel where he was staying.
“While the party was going on, he started spraying pounds — 50 bills and 10 bills. So the manager of the hotel was called. He came down and saw the former governor spraying pounds. He had never seen such a thing in his life so he had to call 911.
“When the Metropolitan Police came, he asked that they should help arrest the former governor. The ex-governor was arrested and they wanted to put him in an ambulance.
“The people — his friends, colleagues, and two governors — who went to London to celebrate with him had to intervene. They said the ex-governor was not a mad man because the hotel manager thought he was mad.”
