Nigeria appears set to revitalise its anti-corruption war following the arrival in the country of top anti-graft Czars during the week, Saturday Tribune can authoritatively reveal.
Major Western nations, which cut strategic cooperation with Nigeria when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was under its erstwhile Chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri, had sent in their top operatives to explore a renewed cooperation in the area of money laundering and anti-corruption.
It was gathered that former governors, whose cases had become moribund under the Farida-led EFCC, had become jittery as a result of the discovery that some Western nations had sent their top operatives to re-open some of the cases.
Sources said that some meetings had been held between Nigerian officials and those foreign anti-graft Czars, who started arriving the country immediately after Waziri's sack.
A source said that operatives, especially from the United Kingdom and United States of America were holding talks with the EFCC top echelons, to review ways through which some abandoned money laundering cases against former governors would be reactivated.
It was gathered that those affected were already making some moves to starve off fresh trial or re-opening of their practically abandoned cases.
The source stated that the cases included the EFCC charge against former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu; the case involving three governors on the sale of shares of their states in Econet Wireles and all the investigations conducted against 32 state governors under the leadership of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in EFCC.
Ribadu had in 2006 told the Senate that his commission had established cases of corruption against 32 of the then 36 governors who, he said, would be prosecuted after the completion of their tenures in 2007.
Though Ribadu actually instituted cases against some of them after they left office, their suits became moribund under Farida.
A source also alleged that some of the former governors got a clean bill under the Waziri led EFCC on certain money laundering cases referred to Nigeria from Western nations.
It was learnt that some of the clean bills are being reviewed already.