By Ovuakporie Emmanuel
ABUJA—OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, might have completed the authentication of all documents and verification of market prices listed in the petition against the House leadership which “the Progressives” led by Dino Melaye submitted to it.

Authoritative sources said the officers started work immediately the anti-graft agency’s boss, Mrs. Farida Waziri, gave her approval.
Feelers from the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday, indicated that Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Lawal, and other nine principal officers may receive letters of invitation next week to explain their roles in the alleged misappropriation of N9billion capital vote.

Vanguard learnt that a case of prima facie has been established and this was enough to extend letters of invitation to all accused officers, particularly where the tenets of the Procurement Act of 2007 were not duly followed.

One of the operatives told Vanguard, yesterday: “If you recall when they, the progressives, came here the Chairman had vowed that we would get to the bottom of the matter and we were summoned and swung into action immediately and the result is what you are seeing now.”

Asked how they carried out their surveys on the market prices of the alleged goods, the source said: “That is quite easy, the original distributors and manufacturers’ representatives were contacted and you know they do not lie, we have all the necessary evidence.”

It could be recalled that Melaye and five other House members had submitted a petition on Wednesday, 23 June, alleging the misappropriation of N9 billion capital vote of the House by the 10 principal officers.

While receiving the petition, Mrs Waziri had vowed that whoever was found wanting would be brought to justice as the House had been turned into boxing ring in the past where faces were re-designed with punches.

She had said: ”The law is no respecter of persons. Nobody is above the laws of the land, everybody is equal to the law.”
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences, ICPC, had also commenced investigations into the allegations as a special unit had been set up get to the roots of the matter.