EFCC Arrests Bankole to avert escape.

Bankole arriving at the EFCC this evening

Bankole exit the EFCC cruiser

Officials of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have finally arrested outgoing Speaker Dimeji Bankole of the House of Representatives.

An EFCC source told Naija News Desk moments ago that the agency operatives moved in today to arrest Mr. Bankole after the agency received intelligence that he was planning to flee tonight.

For the past one week, the EFCC and Bankole have been engaged in a tense stand off arising from Mr. Bankole's refusal to answer the agency's summons for interrogation over a series of corruption allegations.

Naija News Desk exclusively broke the news that the EFCC investigators had linked Mr Speaker to an account at the United Bank of Africa (UBA) through which the outgoing speaker had laundered about $1 billion.

A source at the EFCC told Naija News Desk that the agency was able to arrest the speaker today as soon as it discovered he had planned to escape from Nigeria early tomorrow morning.

Last Friday EFCC agents had made an attempt to arrest the speaker from his residence but that had been rebuffed by Mr. Bankole's security protection.

The EFCC had appealed to IG of Police, Hafiz Ringim to withdraw Bankole's police security to facilitate the outgoing speaker's arrest. Instead, Mr. Ringim arrived at the scene to break the siege, stating that President Goodluck Jonathan had ordered that the EFCC should retreat from arresting Bankole.

A police source said Mr. Ringim came under fire following our report of his role. He later lied that he only paid the speaker a social visit at his residence, unaware of plans by the EFCC to arrest him.

In response to criticism, the IG of police then ordered the withdrawal of Bankole's police protection.

A source within the presidency said Jonathan, who is due to be received this Wednesday at the White House, did not want the baggage of appearing to American officials to be continuing the tradition of protecting Nigeria's major corrupt officials.

The source said that Jonathan then instructed the IG of police and the DG of the State Security Service to immediately withdraw Bankole's security detail.

 A source at the EFCC told us the the EFCC was able to arrest him shortly after he lost his police guards.

In addition to the huge financial scam at the UBA, the former speaker is also implicated in a car buying scandal.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has explained that its operatives had to arrest former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole ahead of the Monday date he gave to surrender himself because he was discovered to be plotting other schemes to thwart his voluntary surrender or arrest on Monday. He was arrested in his Asokoro, Abuja residence at about 8pm on Sunday after resisting arrest again for more than four hours.


The Commmision in a statement signed by its Head of Media & Publicity, Femi Babafemi on Sunday said “the EFCC Chairman, Mrs Farida Waziri was compelled to order the immediate arrest of Mr. Bankole after analyzing an intelligence report which showed that the former Speaker was planning to leave Abuja for Lagos on Sunday evening and thereafter flee the country through an illegal route”. 


It will be recalled that Mr Bankole had twice shunned two invitations extended to him in the last two weeks by the EFCC, an impunity that climaxed last Friday when he resisted attempts by operatives to arrest him in his Asokoro, Abuja residence. 


“While our men kept surveillance around the former speaker hoping he will honour his promise to report on Monday, a fresh intelligence gathered by the Commission showed that Mr Bankole was not ready to keep his promise but was rather planning other schemes to escape from the country through an illegal route or obtain a restraining court order early on Monday to prevent the Commission from effecting his arrest or prosecution”, the statement added. 


Meanwhile, the former Speaker will remain in custody to enable him have sufficient time to answer questions on the numerous fraud allegations against him.