By Soni Daniel
Abuja – The Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has made clear that all those who stole funds made available by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund for the development of the educational sector must be made to cough out the cash and face the full weight of the laws of the land.

The Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu

Magu said the EFCC would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the looters account for every kobo which they diverted from the agency under the guise of developing tertiary institutins across the country.

“The work at hand is enormous, and we are intensifying investigations in all zones across the country,” Magu noted.

The chairman gave the assurance during a visit to the EFCC Head Office, Abuja, by management of TETFund, led by its executive secretary, Abdullahi Baffa, on Thursday.

While intimating the gathering of a conviction secured in Osun State, involving a fraud case prosecuted by the EFCC, involving TETFund funds, Magu noted that “we have seen more people that could be held culpable”.
“We are ready to partner to block all loopholes,” he added.

He used the opportunity to encourage Baffa and his team, to simplify its processes “to prevent further stealing”, and to also “sensitize members of the public and all relevant stakeholders concerning TETFund and its project in their area”.

“It will allow the people to monitor the projects and the activities of the contractors,” he said.

While commending the EFCC for its “giant strides in the fight against corruption”, Baffa, stressed that the assistance of the agency had become a necessity “to tackle the menace of inappropriate projects, abandoned projects, mismanaged funds, and stolen funds, which are almost grounding the institutions”.

“We have also put in place some mechanisms to checkmate fraudulent activities between contractors and these tertiary institutions, but we still need the EFCC’s assistance to escalate the matter to prevent further damage to the educational sector and tertiary institutions,” he said.